Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Episode 11- Let the Sun Rain Down on Me
by Steel Kiba
Summary: Even before the sun sets, darkness falls on the Amalei Region and Dredwing's army rises to unleash carnage. The Power Rangers do their best to quell the vampiric forces and find a cure for their condition even though half of the team is still under Eye Guy's spell. But what happens when Misty must go face Dredwing alone and finds out his master plan?
1. Wake Up

Eons ago, the evil sorceress Rita Repulsa ruled everything with a poison grip, enslaving humanity and destroying countless wondrous creatures, all in the name of a lust for control and a hidden power. The good wizard Zordon was able to seal her away for ten thousand years at the cost of his freedom, but she has returned to wreak havoc on Earth again. Now, Zordon has chosen a team of noble, world-traveled teenagers to harness the power of the dinosaurs to stop her and bring peace to the world. They are the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers!

 **VOICE CAST**

Brennan Mejia as Ash Ketchum/Red Ranger

Rachel Lillis as Misty Williams/Yellow Ranger

Lucien Dodge as Tracey "Sketchit" Matthews/Blue Ranger

Erin Cahill as Lia Feran/Pink Ranger

Johnny Yong Bosch as Brock Harrison/Black Ranger

Josh Grelle as Hayashi Feran/Green Ranger

David Fielding as Zordon

Richard Horovitz as Alpha 5

Barbara Goodson as Rita Repulsa

Kerrigan Mahan as Goldar

Special Guest Voice: Kyle Hebert as Dredwing

 _Let the Sun Rain Down on Me_

 _"_ _Get out! Get out!"_

"GET OUT!"

Misty screamed what her inner voice was repeating as she clutched her pounding head and pressed her face to the wooden shop floor. Her heart pounded at a marathon pace and hot and cold waves rattled her body.

Once again, Doctor April Collings rushed to the girl's side, trying to brace her. The store owner gripped the side of the nearby counter, his mouth agape. Collings gently put her fingers on Misty's bandaged wrist, and Misty snarled and flung her arm into the side of the physician's face.

"Hey!" the man shouted, going over to Collings and checking her face; he didn't dare confront the grunting girl pounding the ground. "She's going crazy!" he continued.

The doctor rubbed her red cheek and shook her head. "No," she said. She tiptoed up next to Misty and asked, "How long ago were you bitten?"

"Yesterday…sorry…get away! Get out!" Misty spat out, clutching her wrist and scrunching her eyes closed. "Get out…"

Collings frowned and lifted the elastic bandage Zordon and Alpha had provided Misty, this time with no resistance from the teen; Dredwing's triangular bite was the darkest shade of purple she had ever seen. "Some of the patients I've taken in have bites like these, but they've mainly been sedated or comatose. Only a couple have lashed out like this."

The shopkeeper's eyes widened. He rose from a crouch but still stayed away. "That's bad, I take it," he remarked.

Collings rolled her eyes, rubbing Misty's back. "If it's anything like those poisons that space hag's sent down here before, 'bad' is an understatement."

Dredwing's laugh lightly drummed in Misty's mind, but what perturbed her more were the images she just saw when she closed her eyes. She bared her teeth again, a tingling feeling partially dulling the pain. She put her hand over her pocket-covered Power Coin and pushed her sweat-tinged hair out of her face.

 _"_ _I have to keep going for them. I have to get up,"_ she told herself. She then turned to the doctor and said, "Tell me more about the victims."

A town away, fully morphed Lia and Tracey stood face-to-face with Scorpina, this time in the middle of one of Kau Cove General Hospital's many hallways. The Power Rangers walked in slow motion, backing the grinning lady warrior up with each step.

"Come a little closer now, Rangers," Scorpina said, her clawed metal feet tapping the linoleum floor. "I don't bite."

"Stop playing games, Scorpina…" Blue Ranger replied. He held his Blade Blaster straight in front of him, the barrel pointed right at the demoness' head. "These people are sick. If you want to fight, let's not do it here."

Scorpina sneered. As she backed up near another open door, she shoved a nurse into the side of the doorway. Doctor Jumah, one of the lead physicans, caught her as she bounced off of it; he gently put her behind him and continued to block the doorway, his arms spread wide.

"What did I tell you and your idiot friends about telling me what to do?" the enemy asked in a sharp tone. She put her pointed forefinger to the doctor's bearded chin and pushed on it a little. "I could pierce his jawbone in no time. What does that say about the strength of those bedridden vermin you call humans? Don't tempt me."

"Do it then," the doctor said in a shaky but deep voice, one highlighted with the timbre of his native Johannesburg. "Do what you will…with me, but leave these people alone. Please…"

Scorpina smiled and stroked Jumah's face as if she were a loving acquaintance. She then swiped with her claw, scratching his cheek open and making him recoil.

"So melodramatic, doc," she said, stepping back at a quicker pace. "I could, but I won't bother. These Rangers, on the other hand, will know my power soon enough."

Suddenly, Scorpina whipped her boomerang blade in front of her face as a razor-sharp arrow flew toward her. She continued blocking shots from Lia and her Ptera Bow, backing up through the bright white halls of the medical center until she clipped her heel on the ground, and it was then that one of the Pink Ranger's projectiles cut through the skin on her left shoulder, making her cry out.

"You've touched an innocent person for the last time, you bug-ugly freak!" Pink Ranger yelled, shooting another arrow that stuck right in a crevice of Scorpina's armor and running toward her.

"Pink Ranger, stop!" Blue Ranger urged. "Not here!" But it was too late. His friend already closed in on the alien, swinging her bow like a club. The blow forced Scorpina to her knees, but she snarled, and pulled the arrow from her armor, slicing at Lia with its tip. Sparks flew from the attack, but the Ranger spun around and dove her elbow into the top of Scorpina's twisted, scorpion-like helmet. The heroine recoiled, absorbing some pain from her strike, and this gave Scorpina time to rebuff her.

"I said stop!"

Lia let out a battle cry, ignoring her teammate's advice and kicking at Scorpina, who blocked by turning to the side and letting her foot slide off of her. Lia drew her Blade Blaster, but she was too close to do anything, and Rita's charge twisted her sword and knocked the laser gun away before following up with a kick of her own to Pink Ranger's head.

At this time, Tracey had had enough. A flash of blue light signaled the arrival of his Tricera Lance, and he rushed at Scorpina, passing room after room and even past the fallen Pink Ranger. Scorpina held her sword close to her body, ready to counter the Blue Ranger's advance, but it didn't come. Tracey shoved the point of his lance into the floor and vaulted over her. He then landed and quickly slid his foot behind Scorpina's, tripping her. Blue Ranger immediately fell as well, dumping his elbow into her gut. Scorpina gasped. He then tried to sidle up to her, reaching his arms out to restrain her, but he was interrupted by Lia.

"I'll finish her!" she screamed.

"No!" Tracey warned. He went to turn his head to see how he could stop his spellbound comrade's next move, and Scorpina jabbed her gauntlet into the back of his neck.

"Better, Blue," she said with a laugh as she rolled back and got to her feet. "You're getting better when it comes to actually fighting. Too bad you're still a disgrace."

"I told you to hold off," Blue Ranger groaned, struggling to get up and massage his neck at the same time.

"Shouldn't have paid me any mind, geek bait," Lia snapped. "I got her before."

Scorpina's grin returned to her face. She took a look into the room next to her, one that did not have any lights on, and she could see the blue sky turning gray.

"Would you look at that," she said, looking casually surprised. "It's getting a bit cloudy out there." She reached her hand to the cut on her shoulder and flicked a string of purple blood onto the floor. "I guess my work is done for now." And with that, she disappeared in a bright fireball.

"I don't like the sound of that," Tracey spoke, checking behind him and then forward again; Lia pounded her fist on the wall and grumbled when Scorpina left the building. Both eventually walked down to the room Scorpina looked into. Sure enough, it grew even darker since the sunny sky became swallowed up with cloud cover. Suddenly, the lights in the hallway flickered, shutting off in five seconds. Gasping could be heard down the way, followed by what sounded like hissing. The Rangers double-taked behind them, and then looked back when their HUDs let out a few loud beeps. A few people in their hospital beds were now sitting up, their yellowed eyes gazing into their visors, and their fangs emerging from their mouths.


	2. Urgent Care

**Hi Everyone.**

 **Well, I've sure fallen short on my updates and what I've promised you fans. Lots of stuff with work and outside learning has just come up, and I'm trying to balance out my new schedule and still stay "untired" to write the story, but it has been a time, but I'm so sorry for not updating earlier. Also, I know I promised drafts of the Ranger cards a month or so ago. Well...InDesign has decided to not update despite all my attempts to fix it, so I have 5/6 drafts done that just need some touch-up. I will be fixing it this week and getting the cards up to speed by next week; that is my goal. I will get this episode finished before April is out, though, and I thank you so much for your continued interest. Stay morphinomenal!**

The unnerving silence was broken, just as Blue Ranger's back could've been when one of Dredwing's victims spilled from his bed and took him to the ground. The hero had bolted to the first vampire he saw move, but restraining him did no good. Another infected person joined him, doing her best to bring her brand new fangs to Tracey's throat.

"Blue!" Pink Ranger cried, rushing to his aid. She pushed a third vampire back into her bed and lunged downward, wrenching one of the enemies away from the Blue Ranger. The snarling female craned her neck in vain, trying to bite Lia. Flecks of spit and black poison flew from her mouth and onto Lia's visor, but the Ranger hoisted her up and pinned her to the wall, spearing one of her arrows into the back of her gown and through the wall. While Lia was helping him, Tracey had rolled over and escaped his attacker, coming to his feet only to execute an inside block to deter another one.

"You okay?" he asked Lia, who was trying to wrestle down a thrashing, fanged boy.

"Yes," she replied, her tone not as aggressive as before. "We just have to…"

The Pink Ranger halted her speech as a blurry shape moved out of the room. The male vampire that had assaulted Blue Ranger pushed off of the ground and tried to follow, but was caught by the duo by his ankles.

"Drag him back in!" Tracey implored. Lurching, the two pulled the hissing victim back, but the Rangers were interrupted by the little boy piling onto them and scraping his fangs across their necks. Energy sparked from their bodies along with groans, but they held onto the one target and tried to shake off the other.

"Rangers! I'm coming!" Doctor Jumah shouted. He shut and locked the door behind him and stumbled near the entrance of the next room.

"Don't let these people near you, doctor! They've turned into vampires!" Tracey cautioned. He and Lia pulled back the thrashing man, his nails grating the floor. Tracey rolled over and pushed him through the air and to the wall with his feet while Lia bounded off the ground with the child in her arms, holding him at arm's length.

One of the male victims ambled over from the middle of the room only to be locked up by the Blue Ranger's right arm and the Pink Ranger's left arm. As he struggled to break free, Jumah stepped up to see what he could do. At that moment, the woman pinned to the wall finally thrashed free, her gown tearing from where the Ptera Bow arrow had hooked her. She snarled and dove under Tracey's legs, immediately sinking her teeth into the doctor's leg. Doctor Jumah screamed, buckling as he plummeted to the floor, but the vampire drug her fangs back, tearing fabric and flesh filling her maw with blood.

"No!" Blue Ranger cried. Both he and his partner rebuffed the man they had in their arms and, straining to do so, Pink Ranger shoved the child into his body. Tracey then swept low and wrenched the biting woman from the physician's leg. The transformed human hissed and backhanded Tracey in the side of his helmet, rocking him back a little.

"That's it!" Lia roared. She whipped around and lunged at the vampire, diving her fist right into her mouth again, again, and again until she whacked her head into the wall outside and crumpled to the ground. She stared at her white-gloved fist for a second, now smeared red and black, and she dove to pull Jumah from the fray.

"We've got to close this wound…" she let out, compressing the tear on the doctor's leg with her clean hand. "We're _going_ to do it."

Meanwhile, a glimmer of blue light broke the darkness, followed by the sound of rushing wind and beastly screeches. Tracey was slowly backing out of the room, assailing the room of bloodsuckers with his Dino Crystal's Sandstorm Cyclone.

"Lock the…lock the door…" Jumah choked out. He reached into his pocket and threw the Blue Ranger a key, which he used to shutter everyone inside the room. The doctor coughed and groaned, which brought the Rangers down to his level.

"You're going to be okay, Doctor Jumah," Blue Ranger assured, waving over a couple of nurses who came out of hiding in the other rooms. He wanted to say more, but another horrifying thought kept him silent.

Jumah shook his head, gasping and wincing with almost every breath, and with each breath came pounding on the door.

"We must secure the rest of the hospital," he managed to say. "These victims must not reach anybody else inside."

"Alpha, send me another one of those bandages," Pink Ranger ordered, speaking into her Wrist Communicator. A few seconds later, a white sizzle of light brought her a small metal box. She opened it and drew out one of ten of the same bandages that Misty had affixed to her own bite.

"You'll have to just put this on part of the bite and dress the rest, but it'll slow the effects of the venom," Lia explained, handing one of the adhesives to one of the nurses and the box of spares to the other.

Tracey snapped out of his train of thought when Lia spoke. "I guess Alpha and Zordon have been hard at work with the first aid," he said.

Lia scoffed, resuming a standing position and drawing her Blade Blaster. "Yeah, but there's not enough to go around this hospital, let alone the whole island."

"Right," Tracey replied, getting to his feet and letting the nurses tend to the doctor. "But we've at least got some more help out there. We have to call the others."

Lia turned her back to Tracey and took off down the hall, closing and locking doors. "You do that!" she yelled. "I'll check out these rooms!"

"Wait, Pink!" her fellow hero protested, but she paid him no mind. _"So much for her calming down during this spell,"_ he told himself, barely hearing himself over the noises behind him. As he turned on his Communicator, Blue Ranger stopped again, the terrible thought from before coming back to mind.

 _If the victims are rising here, it's probably happening everywhere else, and that's where my dad is…_


	3. Heavy Duty

"YAH!"

The crunch of gritty space clay against enchanted metal caused the Black Ranger to flinch as he let out his battle cry and drove his Mammoth Axe into the shoulder of one of the four giant Putties surrounding him and the Red Ranger; otherwise, the athletic field they were all centered in was all but abandoned.

Brock then hopped to the side, ducking a fist from another foot soldier that could've knocked him out cold. The eldest Ranger then dove in, launching punch after punch at the Putty Patroller's middle. Pain wracked his fists, and the being was stunned, leaving Black Ranger time to wheel around its side and wrap his arms as much as he could around its stomach. He then dug his heels into the ground, pushing up grass and dirt as he moved to the side and heaved the toady all the way down.

"Not bad, big guy," Red Ranger remarked. "Now let me punctuate things!" Wielding both his Blade Blaster and Tyranno Sword, Ash ran headlong to the goon right in front of him, drawing his sidearm back like a knife. The Putty strode forward, quickly lifting its leg to cut its target off with a blow to the head, but the Red Ranger slid right under him. He swiftly brought himself back up and, squeezing the trigger, flung three razor-thin lasers at the crumbling creep that went to menace Brock, rattling it. The brawny Putty in front of Ash then turned its rocky form around to attack, and the next thing it saw was the point of Ash's Power Weapon piercing it right between the eyes and sending chunks of clay spewing in the air.

"Whoa, man!" Black Ranger yelled as he grappled with the fourth enemy, nearly pressing the trunk of his mastodon helmet design with its face. "That was brutal!"

"And that's not my last trick. You'll see how it's really done!" his partner quipped. As the impaled Putty Patroller struggled to pull the sword from its face, Ash sprung forth and leapt into the air, somersaulting overhead and prying his blade free. In just a few seconds, he would cleave the baddie's cohort in two. That was his ultimate goal, one that faded as the hulking figure powerbombed him into the earth.

"Ash!" Brock called out. The momentary break in the fight allowed the heavy trooper he was wrestling to trip him to the ground, and it and its teammate began kicking the Ranger while he was down.

 _"_ _I should've seen that one coming…"_ Ash thought as pain blasted through his body, reaching from his limbs and back, meeting, and pulsing. _"If I wasn't jawing with that moron Brock, I could've concentrated…"_

His concentration rushed to him just like the agony he felt, though, because the only other fully intact Putty dropped its fist to smash him. Red Ranger braced his Tyranno Sword horizontally in front of him, straining to push the opposition back. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see dark clouds coming in from the south and the other two Putties assaulting the Black Ranger. The heated annoyance he had for him, for only a second or two, broke with a gasp he let out. He locked eyes with the Putty, pushing his sword further and further upward, but then the sound of feet against grass triggered a need to turn his head. Ash grunted and gave a final shove, letting go of his weapon and forcing himself to roll to the left while the faceless Putty hurled a wild kick and hit the other claybrain instead of Ash.

 _Beep beep, beep beep, beep beep!_

Groaning as he pushed himself to his feet, Ash answered his Communicator's call, picking up his fallen Blade Blaster too.

"Red Ranger, here. What is it?"

"Red Ranger, this is Blue!" Tracey exclaimed; his mile-a-minute transmission crackled with fiendish squeals and screams. "We need some help over here at Kau Cove Hospital! The victims are…the victims are awake! The doctor's been bitten and Pink Ranger is way off…"

"They're biting people now?!" Ash replied, the pain he felt dropping to an ill chill.

"We can't do this on our own! You've got to snap out of this and help us!"

 _No…guys…Misty…_

"We're kind of tied up here, Zordon! These clods don't care about how much you tear into them!"

At the same time the Red Ranger was answering a call, Black Ranger somehow found a way to at least hunch over and respond to an update from his mentor. The two assailants that had been kicking him in the ribs were now twitching and garbling fast after Brock had used the barrel of his Mammoth Axe to coat them in entangling electric charges.

"I understand the situation is dire, Black Ranger," Zordon said. "But you and Ash must find a way to halt the elite Putty Patrol guard now and help Lia and Tracey. Hayashi is holding off Goldar in another section of the city, and Misty is still trying to locate Dredwing before the sun sets."

"Of course… Ah!" The Black Ranger was trying to get up and join his companion, but the kicks to the ribs he suffered ensured he went right back down, but not before he looked upon the . "Of course he's hiding. I guess she can't take a rain check with him."

"No, Brock," the wizard continued as Brock coughed and gripped his midsection. "But quarantining the infected citizens and securing all potential victims is the most important goal. Alpha and I will monitor the readings from here in the protective chamber as well as the other parts of the island, but you must get to the hospital. You can do it."

The transmission stopped, and that's when the two Putties, trudging along despite the crackle of static bounding around their frames, came within six feet of the Black Ranger. His breath hitched, sweat clung to his body under the tightness of his uniform, and he totally tensed up as the two brutes swung their arms forward only to strike the Red Ranger instead; not even sliding in and executing his best X-block could stop them from bashing him into his fellow hero. Both of the Power Rangers gathered the strength to get up, weapons at the ready.

"Thanks, bud," Brock said, clapping his friend's shoulder. "I owe you big time."

Ash didn't reject the elder boy's gesture; though his touch irked him a little, he was mostly too tired to care. "Yeah, yeah," he said back. "I just got a call from Tracey. We gotta get going."

"Same from Zordon," came his friend's reply. The duo backed up together, ignoring the aches and pangs that bombarded them; the four predators fanned out in front of them, closing in fast. "But even with my Hurricane Tackle, it'd take forever to chop these guys down!"

"Then let's both go all out!" Red Ranger proclaimed. He put his hands together and brought forth his Dino Crystal, the glittering red gem dissolving over him as he raised it up high.

 _"_ _No better time to go crazy than this, I guess,"_ Brock silently mused, doing the same. He kicked his leg in a crescent fashion and slung a spin kick in the air, coating the first two Putties' fronts with ice. He wheeled his body back, wielding his axe like a baseball bat, and he whirled and whirled at one of them, sawing its icy clay body with his Hurricane Tackle. Ash simply drew his fist back and crushed through the center of the other one's body with a Quake Defender-powered punch, pelting the other two Putties with Glacier Flash ice and lunar material, making them totter backward.

The Red and Black Rangers then regrouped together. Black Ranger pumped the bottom part of his Mammoth Axe to activate the cannon formation, and the weapon glowed with a bright white sheen as the essence of his Dino Crystal merged with it. One trigger squeeze later, an Arctic blast enclosed the third Putty in a block of ice, and another filled the hole in the fourth's head. Red Ranger nodded at Black Ranger, and the two broke loose in fevered runs. Ash yelled and propelled himself through the air, his crystal-enhanced double kick shattering the faceless grunt's rocky head. Brock went over to the completely frozen Putty and dug his hands into the frozen block. Channeling lifting strength from his legs upward, he hoisted it up and piledrove it into the ground, breaking the final enemy into hundreds of pieces.

The battle was over, and the Rangers allowed themselves a moment to collapse, catching their breath and finally taking time to feel the cooling feeling now flowing in their helmets. But not even half a minute passed before worry snapped them to attention, made them look at each other and nod again, and then teleport away from the field to help the others.


	4. Green with Failure

"Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh…"

A growly laugh coupled with Goldar's wicked, fang-filled smile made Green Ranger's muscles burn even more as he locked hands with him, trying to push up from the pavement.

"Wearing all of that gold proves nothing, traitor," Rita's chief warrior snarled. "You're still just a worthless piece of human filth, just like your friends."

The Green Ranger was bent to one knee, and despite the superpower flowing through him, his arms trembled while he grappled with Goldar. Hayashi growled, keeping the fight going for three more seconds, and then he shifted his weight to his back leg, propelling him to a lunge and his left fist out of the alien's grip and into his right eye. He then let momentum take over, which took him spinning through the air and led his right heel to bash the enemy right in the bridge of his apish nose.

Goldar toppled to the ground outside the shopping center, and Hayashi buckled over, trying to suck in big breaths.

"Traitor, worthless filth, yap, yap yap…" the Ranger huffed, clutching his temple; his head beat like a drum ever since Goldar slammed his palm into it. "Who writes this stuff for you and Rita's other goons? I'm tired of reruns…"

Shaking his head and tightening his muscles, Hayashi burst toward his foe and drew his right fist to his hip, preparing to pummel Goldar as he lay on the ground covering his face. Three steps, two steps, and then Green Ranger was one step away before the ape-griffin leapt up and tackled the him, sending both of them back down. With a demonic gurgle, the monster rained fist after fist into his opposition's chest, but the Dragon Shield merely deflected the blows.

"The only thing that's going to be on repeat is another green fool dying at my hands!" Goldar screamed. Standing up, he caught Hayashi by the arms, neutralizing his movement, and threw him overhead and straight through the window of a hardware store. Goldar tromped to the scene and kicked the closed door off its hinges, growling while the Green Ranger rolled over the shards of glass and tried to steady himself on a bin near the sales counter with his forearms, his fists balled up.

"So much for your karate, just running to punch!" Goldar rasped, clutching his prey by the bottom part of his Dragon Shield. "You..."

"Yeah, you've got some screws loose!" Hayashi shouted as he threw a fistful of screws from the bin into the evil one's face. He then torqued his hips back and levied a right reverse elbow into Goldar's face, and that's when the Ranger conjured up a flurry of offense.

 _Bam!_ A left knee to the gut.

 _Clang!_ Two punches to his metallic chest and a spin kick to follow up, knocking a staggering Goldar outside, which looked more gloomy than it did a few minutes before.

 _Fwoosh!_ The Green Ranger ducked a wild clothesline from Goldar, leaving him room to land a jump hook kick to the back of his head.

 _"_ _The others would never let me have this much fun with this jerk,"_ Hayashi thought as he ran to retrieve his Dragon Dagger, which still lay on the ground. _"But it's time to finish the job they could not!"_

He then slid, extending his gloved hand and finally grasping his blade, but the Ranger's smile faded as his Communicator beeped.

"What now?" he asked, giving himself a minute to hold his head again; between the pain from the fight and Eye Guy's magic antagonizing him, it was a wonder how it hadn't burst.

"Hey! Green Ranger! Look out!"

"I've got it, already!" he snapped at the person who yelled at him, also continuing to ignore the cry of his Wrist Communicator. Green Ranger began to twist his vision back around him, having already sensed something amiss, but it was too late for Goldar had summoned his sword in a plume of fire and swung it across the hero's back. Burning sensations and small explosions overtook Hayashi, giving Rita's right-hand creature time to slash his arms and slam the pommel of the weapon into his gut. Even though doubled over, Hayashi executed an outside block to deflect another slash and tried to step to the side, but Goldar pulled him by the arm, wheeled him around, and punched him in the spine.

Hanson, the police officer that had called out to Hayashi, looked on with his partner Marco while the villain let out another roar as the Green Ranger tottered, barely able to stiffen up the arms he raised. Goldar whipped his jagged sword forward, clashing with the Dragon Dagger. He levied heavy swings, but Hayashi was able to fend some of them off with swift cross and vertical slashes. The boy with the power of the dragon parried another sword swing by coming in and drilling his dagger across the upper part of his opponent's chest. Sparks flew as steel razed otherworldly metal, allowing Hayashi to complete another diagonal slash.

"Kid, stop! Your friends need you!" Marco yelled, who then turned to Hanson and shot him a dirty look.

"Later!" Green Ranger shot back, turning to face the officers. This proved to be a misstep for him, though. Two seconds later, Goldar wrapped his left hand around his throat and chokeslammed him through the pavement.

Hayashi seethed and writhed as every part of him throbbed; he could barely keep his eyes open to see the gilded alien raising his sword with both hands, a bright and deadly vision amidst the gray in the sky.

The Communicator continued to beep, but its sounds were joined by the explosiveness of gunfire. The whizzing bullets caused Goldar to move his focus away from the fallen Hayashi as they plunked into the back of his armored head. He moved his hand to his face and conjured six fireballs that rocketed toward the officers in rapid succession, but the two were able to leap away just in time, the flames incinerating a nearby police car.

"Now…" Goldar began, but he was instantly thrown back by a bolt of verdant energy that flew from the blade of the Dragon Dagger. Hayashi then struggled to even sit up, but he finally activated his Communicator.

"What…now…" he grumbled.

"Green Ranger, you must leave this battle and join the other Power Rangers," Zordon instructed. "It is urgent."

"C'mon, just another couple of minutes, Zordon!" Hayashi answered, gritting his teeth. "I can't leave without grinding Goldie into dust!"

"No," the wizard replied sternly. "You will calm yourself now and let this be. The infected humans are starting to rise and attack your friends and others. You must aid them and then rejoin Misty to defeat Dredwing. This is the number-one priority."

 _They're attacking? And with the sun blocked out, they can…_

Despite the sweat that pressed up against his suit-covered body, the news made Green Ranger shiver, his apathy and anger wavering just a tad.

"So that's what you wanted to tell me?" he said to the approaching policemen, who curtly nodded with their firearms drawn at Goldar, who was looking back and forth at the newly alert heroes.

"Sorry," he whispered. "I'll be right there, Zordon."

Hayashi then pushed himself up and pointed his dagger toward Goldar, thinking of something to say to get Goldar away from the city.

"Bad news for you," he began. "Zordon just called to tell me you'll be hosting a party of six Rangers in less than a minute. You want to keep playing host?"

Goldar spat on the ground and chortled. "I've humiliated you enough for now! But don't think I don't see through your bluff. You'll see how you've just lost more than you realize, Ranger!" And with that, he vanished in a fiery cloud.

A few seconds passed, and Hayashi let out a hoarse shout, pounding the concrete with his fist. Hanson and Marco looked at him with knowing frowns, and in the same moment, Green Ranger shot upward in a point of bright light, piercing the darkness.


	5. Take Me to Church

The sound of sharp metal cutting across the bumpy stone wall was worse than nails on a chalkboard to Squatt and Baboo, but the two could do nothing to stop the noise. The three Putties who accompanied them kept scraping three large rakes across the craggy surface of the Moon Palace's dungeon. Both of Rita's henchmen were chained to the wall, unable to do anything but moan and scream as the rakes cut across every little pebble lodged in the wall.

"Come on, you claybrains, stop!" Squatt pleaded, his usually saliva-ridden jowls devoid of moisture. "I don't get any dinner with this same old stupid tune?"

"Don't yell at them, you dolt!" Baboo snapped, scrunching his eyes as the Putty Patrollers continued the punishment, moving even faster now. "This only makes it worse…"

"Yes, it does."

Everyone focused on Eye Guy, who walked in through the open entryway. His body was partially visible in the darkness thanks to the one torch that burned in the dungeon, each pupil taking in everything. The bulbous counselor took his heavy hand and whapped Squatt and Baboo on the back of their heads, adding even more pain to their tired, bruised forms. Meanwhile, Rita's foot soldiers raked the walls harder and faster, but Eye Guy wrenched one of the tools away from a Putty.

"That's what you get for subverting our queen," he said in a low voice, turning the rake in his bumpy, blinking hands. "And for creating a completely worthless monster. If you remember correctly, Squatt, this belonged to one of your earlier projects."

"Hey, Finster was the one that brought Gnarly Gnome to life!" the blue warthog retorted over the torture. "And that was thousands of years ago!"

Eye Guy closed his huge main eye and growled. He then stretched out his hand and lets four of his eyeballs fly. They burned with sickly energy, slicing through the two prisoners' chains and dropping them to the ground.

"Get out of here. Go now!" he ordered, pushing the Putties out of the way and shoving Squatt toward the doorway with his foot. The four retreated, Baboo quickly behind them, but Rita's top advisor pulled him by the fur on his neck.

"Hey, what gives?" the man-bat groaned, flailing his four arms. "No more!"

"You're lucky Rita told me to let you go. Otherwise, there'd be no escape from where I would send you," Eye Guy threatened, resisting the urge to make good on his words. "But you may prove to be useful."

Baboo's eyes widened with fright, as wide as the counselor's, many of which watched the flames of the torch dance in the din of the dungeon. He would do anything just to get out of the prison he had been locked up in for weeks since Monarch's demise.

"With Rita's permission," Eye Guy continued, slime dripping from his central cornea and plopping near his and Baboo's feet. "I have commissioned Finster to create another monster for the next phase of our plan to take Earth."

"Gee, with you, Goldar, Scorpina, Dredwing, and his army, I thought we'd be unstoppable. I guess not," Baboo said. This made Eye Guy pull him closer and ball up his fist, making Rita's scientist's red lips quiver.

"Squatt's idiocy is rubbing off on you. I have every confidence Dredwing will finish his plan and end the Rangers' silly resistance. But I have no doubt that the Dinozords will pose a problem even with Zordon's children out of commission."

Baboo, who had been quaking in his captor's grasp, started to calm down a little, though his head was still a bit fuzzy.

"But with our overwhelming numbers, shouldn't we be able to destroy all six of them as well?"

Eye Guy started to chuckle. "Six… Perhaps they should have fed you more in here," he quipped. "Your brain would retain such simple information. There is one more prehistoric pest we haven't seen yet. And you are going to be key in helping us make sure it is never seen again."

Misty shivered once more as she looked at the gray sky above her, Doctor April Collings' words still swimming in her mind, or rather her words concerning Dredwing's words.

"You'll draw yellow to me, and me to gold…" she repeated, having said the phrase a few times while the two walked through Riko. "Why that monster would say that to those he bit is just bizarre."

Collings raised a shoulder, scratching her head. "Well, it kind of makes sense. He just recently attacked the Yellow Power Ranger, according to the little boy of the family that was attacked last night. Maybe he's just trying to pick them off one by one."

Misty snorted, breathing deep as more pangs of venomous pain shot from her wrist and to her head and toes.

"Is he alright?" she asked? "What I'm feeling can't be worse than what he's going through."

Doctor Collings smiled and squeezed Misty's hand. "He'll be alright," she assured her. "We've moved Jack to protective custody with the police since his parents are infected."

The two then turned down another dirt country road, complete with white painted fences standing in front of wide farmland on each side; the whinnying of horses and mooing of cows could be heard far off.

"I'll do what I can to help," Misty said, hitching up her backpack and her jeans. "I know I'm alone, but I'm not afraid."

"Hey, you've got five friends and a giant robot tiger to call on. You'll be fine no matter what that freak says," Collings said, taking a look out in the distance as a dog barked out to the west; he could be seen leading fluffy white sheep up a tall green hill. Misty's mouth gaped open as the doctor spoke.

"What? I've been treating people lashing out like you did for the last week or so. And you're still up for vampire hunting. Either you've got superpowers or you're certifiably crazy for coming out here in your state."

Misty shrugged one shoulder, smiling slightly.

"And don't worry," Collings continued. "I won't tell. Doctor-patient confidentiality."

"Doctor-Ranger is more like it," Misty remarked.

A few minutes later, the young women came upon a big brick building near the edge of a fork in the road; a few cars sat . Though it seemed larger in width, the structure supported a tall, white, needlelike steeple that reached to the sky. Misty immediately started heading toward it.

"I don't think the monster would be in here, Misty," Collings said as they walked up the steps.

"That's exactly why I'm going in," the Cerulean City native responded, clenching her teeth and crouching as Dredwing's poison coursed through her veins.

 _"_ _Go ahead… Step inside and feel the burn."_

Once again, Misty whipped her head upward and pushed the doctor back when she tried to help her up. She then barged through the double doors of the church, right into a crowd of people lining the aisles. Two of them looked at Misty as she strained to gather herself, but turned back to the babble of talk helping fill the main room.

Collings followed behind as the young lady squeezed through the throng of people and past rows of stained glass windows, finally gaining a grip on her after some resistance. However, everyone in the church was too preoccupied to notice them. Folks cradled sharp wooden poles close to them and yelling at each other, others sat in the pews and quietly prayed, and all were tense. The two came face to face with an older gentleman with a white beard and matching close-cropped hair shouting at a man a foot taller than him.

"You're lucky I'm letting people in here with those stakes! There's no way we're letting you bring a gun inside!"

"Now see here!" the burly man, poking the smaller one in the chest with a thick finger. "I have to protect my family, and here is the only place where that bloodsucker can't come in. I'm gonna stand my ground here and blast his guts out whether you like it or not!"

"Come on, Willy," a thin lady with long blonde hair said, trying to grab his hand in comfort. "You're welcome to stay here with your family. But we have to keep it peaceful in here."

"You stay out of this, Miss Karen!" Willy snapped, pulling back hard, prompting someone next to him to say, "You tell her!" However, this also raised Misty's ire.

"You heard her, cool it!" she nearly screamed, getting in the man's face. Willy stood there with wide eyes for a moment, but then huffed, straightened his denim jacket, and turned to move into the crowd.

Misty let out a subdued snarl, which caused Karen and the man next to her to stare.

"I don't know why he's so insistent," she spoke, pushing some fronds of red hair back behind her ears. "I thought the people, not the building, were the church."

Karen giggled and looked at the older man, who was wiping flecks of spittle off of his blue dress shirt.

"True, but this is a safe place, and everyone who needs to be here should be here," the woman answered, taking time to inspect Misty, especially noting her pale complexion and bloodshot eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Later, I will," Misty replied, nodding and grinning as she noticed someone twirling a razor-sharp wooden stake like a baton. As she looked on and around her, the beating pain began to change, feeling more like a stinging sensation.

"Pastor Stephen," April Collings started, turning to the head of the church with her nose wrinkled; now that she and Misty had a chance to just stand, she could smell the potent stench of garlic that several Riko townsfolk brought in pervading the room. "You can't fit the whole town in here."

"We'd sure try, April, but I don't think it will get that bad," the pastor said, chuckling and looking over to some of his associate clergy, who were holding the shoulders of people with bowed heads, read certain verses to them, and talked and laughed with children to keep their minds off of the impending danger. "A lot of them are just seeking some extra prayer and for me to bless their weapons; they're determined to defend their homes."

Karen nodded as well, closing her eyes. "I would never have imagined actually praying over garlic to ward off vampires," she added. "But ever since the summer ended, I suppose we'd better be ready for anything. Anyway, how can we help you two?"

"Well, Miss Karen," Misty initiated. "I'm trying to help Doctor Collings here find any more patterns concerning the attacks in Riko. Everything is a little patchy, but seems to have worked downward through the Amalei Region."

"That's right," the doctor concurred. "But some of the earliest attacks occurred here, from what I remember."

Pastor Stephen took off his spectacles, cleaning them off with a white cloth in his shirt pocket. One of his associates tried to call him over, but he waved him off as if to say, "Later."

"It's all strange to me, just too strange," he said. "But I'll tell you like I told the police, that Karen and I found the first known victim just a ways from the church."

Misty and Collings kept straight faces when Pastor Stephen relayed the news, Misty tightening her jaw and Collings wiping her left eye with the sleeve of her leather jacket.

"It was Catherine Prince, one of our worship leaders," Karen added in a deadpan voice. "We found her a few hundred yards out early that morning. It looked like someone had beaten her, but when we saw the marks on her wrist, we thought she had been injected with something, not bitten. They didn't…" she took a moment to compose herself. "They didn't look like those horrible bites we see now. But why would that beast do that to her?"

Pastor Stephen pulled his wife into a tight hug, and Collings leaned into Misty's ear to whisper.

"I wasn't present when Catherine first came into our hospital. But after meeting you, she looks nearly like you, red hair and everything."

"So that means he _was_ sent by Rita," Misty whispered back. "But why would Dredwing attack someone that looks like me in this town unless…he's hiding close by…"

Misty stepped away from the doctor. It took her only five seconds to piece it all together. A few miles past this area of farmland was a certain area she and her fellow Rangers knew all too well: the Life's End caverns.

As the pastor, his wife, and the physician talked, Misty moved her eyes to a tall white cistern standing on scarlet carpeting in front of the altar, filled to the brim with water. She gazed into the small pool, taking her right forefinger and slowly moving it downward. The stinging feeling that steadily needled her grew hotter as her digit got closer to the water, and she jerked back when she dipped it inside, almost tumbling into a couple of kids behind her. She clutched her finger and her wrist while Dredwing's laughter rang in her ears, and the horrific visions resumed.

 _"_ _Places like these don't quench your thirst for more,"_ the monster taunted, flashes of individuals being assailed by vampires in what looked to be a hospital bombarding her. _"Allow me to sate the life you crave."_

Misty saw blood flow from the victims in her mind, but she didn't let the panic or the incendiary effects of the monster show in the place of worship. April, Karen, and Pastor Stephen all looked at her standing stiff, eyes locked open and sweat once again running down from her head to her chin. The girl licked her lips at the sight of blood, its visage much like a desert oasis to her. She grinned again, looking at all of their necks and pressing her tongue to one of her teeth, which felt just a little sharper than before.

The three adults approached Misty slowly as to not draw unneeded attention. Doctor Collings quickly took the teenager's bag and drew out two large bottles, going back to the cistern after knowing exactly what to do. The pastor and his wife began speaking in hushed tones, Karen going to clasp Misty's hand, only to be wrenched close to her, Misty flashing a vicious, hungry look. Yet, her countenance started to fade when her hand brushed her pocket, bumping into the outline of her Power Coin. She then dipped her head after a few moments, allowing the two to continue speaking and lay comforting hands on her, but not without silently speaking herself.

 _"_ _Hide and Seek is over, Dredwing. Now you can't hide from me anymore."_


	6. According to Plan

Misty ambled down the steps of the church, whipping her head back and forth in frenzy as she tried to see if the coast was clear.

"Are you sure you should be going alone, Misty?" April Collings questioned, jogging right beside her. "The other Power Rangers surely need your help."

"That's why I need to go, doctor," the teenager replied, rounding to go to the back of the building and away from sight. "Better me than anyone else getting hurt. I know exactly how to take him out."

Collings wheeled her around and grasped her by the shoulders, shaking her hard.

"Don't be stupid!" she hissed. "He already beat you up once, you're sick, and your friends have their hands full! They could…"

Misty, who had been looking down while Collings chastised her, took her right hand and grabbed the physician's left. She didn't look up.

"Aside from the fact that Zordon approved me going on this mission by myself," she started in a low tone. "I'm sure you understand how personal this is for me. I'm not trying to fool myself about the danger here, but _I'm destroying Dredwing._ " She then looked up, her expression carrying fatigue and fury at the same time, saying, "If things get to be too much, I'll go back to the others. I promise."

Collings stood there with a pensive frown, letting the girl go and stepping back. Her frown then changed to an authoritative stare.

"I'm counting on you, Misty. Do what you need to do."

Misty dipped her head in acknowledgement, taking off behind a nearby tree rooted in a thicket of foliage. Pain wracked her as she managed to put her Power Coin into her Morpher, opening it and raising it to the sky and choking out, "It's Morphin Time… Saber-Toothed Tiger…"

Seconds passed along with brilliant yellow energy that surrounded Misty. Her burning frame was suddenly overcome with cool relief, but discomfort remained, making her feel like a breathing bruise. One more second passed, and she lifted off from the ground in a column of yellow light, rocketing toward her next destination.

"Zordon, this is the Yellow Ranger," she spoke into her Communicator. "Dredwing is hiding in Life's End. Morphing is dulling the effects of the poison, it seems. It could get worse when I engage him."

"Outstanding work on determining his location, Yellow Ranger," Zordon responded as he and Alpha kept an eye on the situation at Amalei Region hospitals. "I am confident you will act quickly as you promised the doctor; the power of the dinosaurs will protect you, and your tenacity will only bolster your efforts. But though I trust in your abilities and in her to keep your secret identity, I cannot say the same for the patients in her care. The other Rangers are reporting more aggressive behavior from the victims, so Riko will definitely be in peril."

Misty kept her vision locked forward. The grassy fields rushed by in a yellow-green haze, interrupting reds, browns, whites, and blues of structures, people, and creatures blending in. In the time it took the Yellow Ranger to come up with a response, she had landed onto one of the verdant landscapes, right in front of the wide mouth of a familiar place.

"If the threat is that dire, then we'll have to kick it up a notch," she said. "We'd better call in some animal rescue."

Rita Repulsa kept rubbing the nail of her left index finger over her cheek as she watched the action unfold through her enchanted telescope. One moment, the Power Rangers were all spread out and at the mercy of Goldar, Scorpina, and her elite Putty Patrollers; now, the Black and Pink Rangers were paired off in Kau Cove while the Green, Blue, and Red Rangers were trying to corral vampires at Feron Grove Hospital.

"They're not at each other's throats as much as they were, counselor," she reminded Eye Guy, who was talking to Finster after they had come out of his monster workshop. "They've switched up teams, but they're having quite a time with our new biting babies." She turned to the mass of eyeballs and said, "But again, they're not as tethered to your spell."

Eye Guy's entire body blinked. Finster let out a quiet, "Oh dear," yet Eye Guy remained composed.

"If I may interject, my queen," he began. "Things are going exactly as planned."

The sorceress hitched up her towering magic wand and spun it to where her high counselor's neck would be, the red bulb locked inside the big ring end pulsing with light. Her brow was furrowed low and her teeth were bared and clenched shut.

"Just watch," Eye Guy continued in a calm voice. "Anger gives way to despair and panic, which gives way to destruction. They'll wake up to their doom soon enough."

As soon as the counselor finished his sentence, a sparkling string of energy flew from Rita's wand and right at Eye Guy's main eye, which closed to absorb the blast. Three more projectiles struck the closed eyelids covering his body, but he didn't budge until Rita rose and rammed him with her staff.

"What good is an army of vampires of any size if those brats still live?" she inquired. "Partially functioning Rangers are still a partial thorn in my side."

Eye Guy continued to back up across the throne room as Rita advanced, Finster covering his eyes. His tranquil mood never changed, however.

"Wait until the sun sets, madam," he urged, gesturing with his wide right hand. "That's when Dredwing's army will be most effective."

"And what of him?" Rita jabbed verbally and physically, driving the end of her wand into Finster's gut. "He may have poisoned that wretched redhead, but his focus seems to only be on her and not on what we agreed upon. I freed him after thousands of years, and this is how he shows gratitude? We should've used Finster's clay model instead."

Eye Guy chuckled and stepped to the side, walking back to the balcony and landing a hearty slap to Finster's back, making the goatlike alien groan in pain again.

"Dredwing knows his lot in our arrangement. I think you'll find he's more than willing to accept any consequences we could send his way."


	7. Dredwing's Desires

"Not much time left."

Misty took in a big breath, steadying her shaky body as she spoke. It went totally stiff in the next second.

"Welcome home, my dear," Dredwing said.

Yellow Ranger instantly directed her focus into Life's End instead of the 4:00 p.m. timestamp on her HUD. Crunchy footfalls signaled his approach, and the beast emerged from the darkness of the cave and into the open air. But the Yellow Ranger said nothing, instead reaching her hands out for a few seconds and donning her Dino Crystal.

"Come on inside, Misty," the vampiric creature urged, curling a bony finger in a beckoning motion. He flicked his tongue out of his tall, oblong mouth, rolling it over his large fangs. "I can see that you're tired."

The heroine let the crystal's energy wash over her, temporarily dulling more of the poisonous pain in her body, and opened both hands to summon her Tiger Daggers. She eyed the monster from head to toe, finding no trace of any eyes on his body.

Dredwing chuckled, the chill in the air eliciting a sigh of comfort from him. "Well, I can't physically see," he continued. "But I certainly can feel you. Smell you. Taste you."

"Keep talking. Just go on…" Misty replied, stepping forward slowly. She had one dagger reared back and the other crossed in front of her chest. With each step she took, Dredwing matched it, their feet and their breathing being the only sounds in the grassy plain under the darkened sky.

With just seven feet between them, Yellow Ranger made the first move, using her right hand to fling a dagger straight at Dredwing's heart. The towering foe turned to the side and batted the weapon to the ground, giving the Yellow Ranger time to slide in and stab at him. However, his movement caused the dagger to tear into his side, releasing a splash of nearly pitch black blood.

Dredwing then let out a guttural and clamped his hairy arms around Misty, making her release her other Tiger Dagger and pressing her helmeted face, silver fang design first, into his chest.

"Fine, we'll do it the fun way," he commented.

He opened his maw and drug his huge bottom fang over her protected neck, setting off a shower of sparks and screams from Misty.

The plaintive screaming only lasted a second, though, as Misty scrunched her face up and bellowed, putting her palm to Dredwing's chest. In the following second, a mass of vines flew from her hand and arched over Dredwing, arching over his limbs, wings, and through his rows of sharp teeth. Employing the Jungle Barrier allowed the Yellow Ranger to escape and roll backward as the greenery flashed red and weighed the monstrosity down.

Adrenaline and venom compelled the Yellow Ranger to dart to and leap on the bundle of vines, hurriedly diving her blades into them over and over.

"Having fun yet?" she shrieked, continuing to stab, retract, and repeat. Tufts of batlike hair, patches of foliage, and strings of blood flew from the Jungle Barrier as she made her way from the head to the heart.

"ARE YOU?!"

Misty drew her right arm back to deal what could've been the fatal blow when her arm grew as heavy as iron. She gradually dropped it and tried to raise up the left, but she couldn't move her Tiger Dagger. She let it go and was free to move, but Dredwing's hand burst through a part of the barrier and clawed the Yellow Ranger across her neck, sending her to the ground.

 _"_ _Stupid venom. No wonder I can't use my daggers."_

This thought snuck its way into Misty's mind while she writhed in pain, holding her neck. Meanwhile, Dredwing clawed his way out of the Jungle Barrier and stood tall.

"Look what you've done," Dredwing noted as Yellow Ranger regained some composure. He gestured wide, showing deep cuts along his side, arms, and back. "Even your addled friends keep their mission in sight. You just gave in and lost the use of your weapons, not that you'll need them. And speaking of friends…"

The bloodsucker fanned out his wings and rose to the air, opening his palms and straightening his legs. The contusions and gouges that Misty left in his body grew, revealing tiny, weird-shaped heads and hungry eyes. Within minutes, several small organisms sprung from Dredwing's body and took to the sky with wings. Misty counted at least fifteen while she fired bolt upon bolt from her Blade Blaster, but the rays only made them shudder as they grew taller and wider and flying faster.

Yellow Ranger looked on in horror as the vampires flew toward Riko, her face awash with perspiration when a demonic squeal made her turn back toward the cave. One of the monsters, looking much like Dredwing but with two pointed ears, glided to the Ranger with jaws and arms outstretched only to be impaled by a swift flick of the Blade Blaster. A string of black goop pulsed from the wound, and the creature dissipated in a plume of violet flames. She then whipped the sidearm in front of her, rooting down in a defensive position while Dredwing watched and chuckled.

"Saber-Toothed Tiger, you know what to do!" she shouted into her Communicator. Misty then shot a few lasers at two more shapes emerging from their master's back before switching signals."Red, this is Yellow! You need to call all the Dinozords now! They're coming!"

She heard Ash reply, but the words escaped her when the two batlike beings sprung from Dredwing and charged her in midair. Yellow Ranger rebuffed them with a leaping split kick and went to go after Dredwing again when her HUD detected an oncoming threat. She swiftly whirled around and thrust her palm into a third vampire's concave nose, halting its flight. But before she could resume targeting the main enemy, the duo she had just attacked tackled her, locking her arms out straight. Misty gritted her teeth and managed to wrench her left elbow free to strike the one menace and say another message to the Red Ranger.

"Dredwing has more...they're all monsters! Yah!"

Her yell punctuated a spinning hook kick that Dredwing ducked, giving him time to claw her in the chest and levy a spinning kick of his own to the side of her head. Misty crumpled to the ground only for the three flunkies to pick her up while the ancient evil one wrenched her helmet off and tossed it aside.

The Yellow Ranger stood nearly limp in her captors' grasp, her mouth agape in exhaustion. It opened to its stretching point as she let out another scream because one of Dredwing's offspring scraped its fangs across the side of her neck. Yet, the vampire didn't get to enjoy the taste of Misty's blood since Dredwing wrenched it away from her by the throat. Thankfully, in the agony of another bite, Misty had her eyes closed and was unable to see what was happening. By the time she opened them again, purple embers had consumed the two halves of the creature and disappeared.

"Nobody touches her except me!" Dredwing hissed, snapping his fingers; the two servants tightened their grip on Misty and followed Dredwing out of the relative shade of the outside world and into the total darkness of the Life's End caverns. "You will eat when the sun sets or you will burn like the other one!"

"That'll be you…"

Dredwing ignored Misty's comment, continuing his own speech.

"Keese are such simple organisms. I'm of the last breed of Vires, so I can spawn those that are a little more capable, but they're still bothersome unless you control them."

Misty snorted. "My friends told me a little about you freaks," she managed to say; her powered suit was now doing little to alleviate her pain. "Cut you up, but more of you come out. But your monsters won't be harming anyone else. You underestimate me."

"What, the tiger?" Dredwing countered. "You'd risk those clumsy machines shooting or crashing into buildings just to stop them? You overestimate your own capabilities. But we shouldn't fight, my sweet."

"SHUT UP!"

"Just take a look outside!" Dredwing forced Misty to look out the cave entrance. "You will be leading my servants in taking this world for Rita, and I want you to see the last bit of natural light you will ever lay your eyes on before doing so!"

"I'd rather die!" Misty shot back. "You're so weak you can't even do it yourself!"

Dredwing sighed, curling his pointed toes in the dirt and pebbles of the cave. He took one of his fingers and twirled a strand of Misty's red hair.

"I'm merely keeping my promise," he said in a calm voice, stroking her face. "Rita woke me from my slumber after thousands of years and told me I could end the human scourge that slain my kind for centuries by making them serve her to also end the group known as the Power Rangers. In return, I could keep one for myself."

Yellow Ranger shuddered at Dredwing's touch, but she actually let a grin curl her dry, cracked lips.

"She killed that warlord that ruled when you Vires were all over the place," she challenged. "You'll be next if you succeed. That witch doesn't care."

Dredwing yanked Misty's head back by her hair, flashing his teeth at her. He turned toward Life's End's opening and took in the coolness he could feel.

"With age comes wisdom, Ms. Williams. I know that, and every night I've been out acquiring and taste-testing soldiers, I've actually gotten the chance to feel the smallest rays of the sun, and the warmth is just intoxicating. I've only ever known the cold, so I would rather die in what I've heard is a golden light than of anything else. Those clouds will part when the sun sets, and that is when I will take my leave. You and all of my victims will take over in my stead.

Suddenly, a sizzling white light appeared in Misty's right hand, materializing into a metal water bottle. Tapping into a newfound surge of energy, the fighting female twisted the nozzle open with her fingers and thrust it up at the Keese on the right. Water collected from the church cistern scalded its face and made the Keese loosen its grip. Misty did the same to the other lackey, and it too fell to the ground, screeching as the liquid dripped into its mouth.

The Yellow Ranger flung her arm diagonally with all her might, also drenching Dredwing. Though the beast cried out, he retaliated by palming Misty's entire face and shoving her against the cave wall. She could barely see through his rough fingers, but bloody patches of torn, hairy skin broke out on Dredwing's face.

"Your fortitude is unlike anyone's I've ever encountered," he spoke. "That's why I love you, and that's why you'll do so well when you totally cross over."

For the second time, Dredwing snaked his tongue over his bottom fang in front of Misty, only this time he tore a bigger cut into the flesh instead of pricking it open. With his troops holding the struggling Yellow Ranger back again, Dredwing flicked his tongue out, viscous black drops flowing past his hostage's clenched teeth.


	8. Different Angles

With his Tyranno Sword reared back past his hip, the Red Ranger was more than ready to to put it to good use against any creature that attacked him or the Blue Ranger, who had separated his Tricera Lance into halves and intersected them. A woman and her two children, who had been visiting Feron Grove Hospital for a routine checkup, hid behind the Power Rangers. Meanwhile, an infected man and woman scuttled backward in the darkness of the corridor, keeping their heads low in the face of the symbol and passing two more vampiric men who had been knocked out cold; they had attempted to bite the family at closed quarters, leaving Ash and Tracey had no choice but to strike them down.

"I'm picking up three more heat signatures like theirs," Red Ranger cut in, his HUD ticking the number under the heading "Viral Detection."

"Read ya," Blue Ranger responded. "Two of them are above us, probably on the second floor. They're static."

"I've got the other one." Ash narrowed his gaze between the two enemies and into the void; the next one was just a few yards away, where a loud banging could be heard.

Tracey noticed a side door near him that led to a stairway and an emergency exit. He used his elbow to turn the handle and open it, partially sliding inside.

"Go outside this door," he said to the family. "You'll be safe,"

"But then we'll be out where the vampires can get us!" one of the kids whimpered, tucking his head into his mother's side. The two conscious vampires hissed in reply, lashing out with their arms in the face of the crucifix.

"You'll be fine, I promise," Blue Ranger urged. "There will be protection outside, and I'm taking care of the victims upstairs."

Red Ranger nodded and tucked his blade under his arms, forming his Dino Crystal and saying, "You can trust him. Just go!"

The woman nodded in kind and took her children past the Blue Ranger and to the exit. They burst through the door and found themselves in an interior courtyard under the cover of the cloudy afternoon sky. The screeches of the infected people behind them chilled their bodies, but a deep, rolling cry drowned them out followed by a loud rumble. The family looked to the open area to the left, smiling and running toward the familiar sound of the robotic, prehistoric protector that was moving up to the hospital.

Tracey bounded up the rusty metal stairs, his grip on his lance sections tighter than ever. Ever since he teleported to Feron Grove from Kau Cove, he had yet to find his father.

 _"_ _Please don't be one of those two,"_ he thought.

Downstairs, Ash rolled past the duo that had been retreating from him and his partner, his Dino Crystal dissolving in his left hand. With a yell, he swung his Tyranno Sword in a broad slash, making Dredwing's grunts jump back. The Red Ranger then drew his Blade Blaster, focusing as it glittered with light.

"I know you guys are probably feeling foggy right now," he jested. "I'm sorry I have to make it worse."

He squeezed the trigger, releasing a torrent of mist in front of him and reaching to the floor and ceiling—mist that usually appeared when he performed the Quake Defender. Dredwing's charges sprung forward, squealing as they bounced into the protective matter, allowing Ash to tear down the corridor.

"Get away!" he heard somebody yell.

"Mike?" he breathed as he continued his run. Red Ranger finally reached the end of the hall and turned the corner to the pediatric ward. Sure enough, his schoolfellow Mike was backing away from one of the vampires. Even through his protective helmet, he could smell the stench of death on the shaggy boy's breath; past the reception desk was a hospital tech, clutching her bloody hand and trying to block the pale blue door.

"Mike, are you okay?" the Ranger asked, getting close to the teenager while keeping his sidearm drawn.

"I am, but she isn't," the slightly rotund boy answered. He held his fists clenched in front of his face. "Wendy's cousin Paula is in here with a broken arm, and we wanted to get her out since these attacks got worse, but the worst just happened a few minutes ago."

"Worst?" Ash let out while the infected boy got down to a crawl. His yellowed eyes widened and he drug his tongue over his new, bloody fangs like his torn hospital gown across the floor, all the while repeating, "Yellow. Gold. Yellow. Gold."

"I've got a nurse working on her leg where she was bitten," the tech nearly screamed, tightening the pressure on her bite; a similar scream, smaller and higher pitched, came from behind one of the other nearby doors. "But a lot of that black liquid leaked onto the bite…"

 _Beep beep, beep beep, beep beep!_

"Red Ranger here," Ash answered. "What's up?"

"Red, this is Yellow!" Misty cried out through the Wrist Communicator. "You need to call all the Dinozords now! They're coming!"

"Triceratops is already here," Red Ranger responded in an irritated voice, bringing his wrist closer to his ear; a loud fluttering sound was almost masking all of Yellow Ranger's words. "And we've just got the second floor left to clear now, so we've got this. What gives now?"

"Dredwing has more...they're all monsters! Yah!"

"Yellow? Yellow!" The transmission had cut out after Misty's last yell. All the while, the infected child laughed, then went back to repeating, "Yellow. Gold. Yellow. Gold."

Both teenage boys growled, Ash holstering his Blade Blaster; his breathing was heavy and his body grew colder with every passing thought about Misty. The little boy crawled closer and closer, eventually touching the white bottom of Ash's boot. In that instant, he tried to sink his teeth into it, but Ash c-stepped to the side and bent down, gathering the child in his arms. Suddenly, before the boy could even struggle, another being barged through a partially open door and tackled them to the ground. Hissing, the beast gripped the Red Ranger by the throat, smothering both him and the boy.

Mike trembled from head to toe, but he didn't take long to move over to the pile of bodies, shouting, "Hey!" He grabbed the new entrant into the fray by its hoary shoulder, but he was met with a hard, bony backhand to the face that sent him to the tile floor. The hand then went for Red Ranger's throat again, but the sharp point of the superhero's Blade Blaster burst through it. The monster squealed, giving Red Ranger a chance to propel him over his head and right into the pediatric center reception desk.

Mike heaved himself to his feet, pushing his hair out of his face and dabbing at the blood that ran from his nose with his olive-colored overcoat sleeve. He spied upon a pair of scissors lying on the nearest edge desk and stumbled over to seize them.

"Take care of the kid!" he said, raising the scissors above his head as he moved to attack the prone Keese.

"Stop!" Ash yelled, pulling Mike back and moving in front of him. "Let me handle him!" He opened his hand to focus energy to form his Tyranno Sword, but the Keese snatched him by the arm and yanked the Ranger down, preparing to bite into his cranium. This proved to be a foolish maneuver since as Ash fell, his blade finally materialized and pierced its throat. The slightest sprinkle of black goop flew up from the wound, the colorful inferno quickly consuming its body.

"Let me help…" Mike pleaded, clutching his nose while he spoke.

"You're going to get us into more trouble by throwing yourself into harm's way!" The Red Ranger snapped. He took his Blade Blaster in his left hand, pointing it toward the little boy, who was recovering in the corner. No sooner than when he locked his yellowed eyes onto Ash's did he found himself pressed against the corner, stinging mist sprayed at his face and to the ceiling.

"Hey!"

Red Ranger found himself assaulted by the noises the boy made while he tried to bang through the Quake Defender's shield, Mike yelling, and the hospital tech screaming. A hostile signal came through his HUD, and Ash quickly looked around before cocking the back of his weapon and firing at another Keese coming through the door. The cretin twitched and yelped at the bolts crackling over its back, but it continued toward the woman blocking the door; the children behind it could be heard crying and whimpering. Its gnarly foot just barely touched her knee and saliva dripped down to her light blue scrubs when the Keese screamed, a searing pain slicing its back. It wheeled around and bit down, latching onto Mike's shoulder.

Mike shouted hoarsely as the multitude of fangs entered his body, dropping the scissors he slashed the Keese with. He tried to stagger back, but the monster didn't let up. The boy gave one last lurch, falling to the ground with it and smashing it under his weight. The Keese let Mike go, giving him a chance to roll to the side.

Seeing this brought Ash's own blood to a feverish temperature. With all his might, he dove the point of his Tyranno Sword into the Keese's heart. Only one strike was all that was needed to make the menace crumble, but the Red Ranger stabbed into the tile floor twice more and dropping the Power Weapon to the side. He then sank to Mike's side, the medical worker joining him.

"Here," Ash said, producing a metal box from a flash of electricity courtesy of the Command Center's Summon Link tied to the Morphing Grid. He opened it and retrieved three white bandages, patching the lady's wound first. "These have energy that'll slow the effects of the poison until we destroy these things."

The tech nodded and helped remove Mike's shirt to get to his bite. His left shoulder was coated in red life-giving fluid and venom, smearing the myriad of teeth marks. Mike struggled to repress a sob, his lip quivering.

"I'm sorry…" he let out. "I should've listened. I'm sorry."

"Hush…" the lady whispered, stretching the healing dressing over his shoulder with Red Ranger. "It's okay..."

A warm feeling cut through Ash's partially-foggy conscience and his tightly-held worry. He clasped the teenager's hand in a powerful grip.

"You'll have to work on that, buddy," he said. "But you're in good company."

"All of the Dinozords? I don't think that's necessary here," Green Ranger said into his Communicator. He stood atop the roof of Feron Grove Hospital, staking out for any possible threats when he received a call from the Red Ranger.

"These Keese aren't human, but they sure have the same taste as their master," Red Ranger responded. "Kau Cove might not be in too much danger from them…"

"Don't worry, we're having a hard enough time keeping the patients here from having an early dinner," Black Ranger cut in. "At least Pink has stopped trying to fire into their hearts."

"Don't push me…" Pink Ranger rebutted, a swish of air cutting across the transmission as a result of her sidestepping an incoming vampire and batting it with a knife-edge strike. "I just hope your plan holds up, Black. And we have…to get to Yellow…before it's too…"

"We're going to get her and the others back safely. I promise," Red Ranger vowed, noticing the shakiness in Lia's voice.

"Let's just watch the clock," Hayashi reminded everyone, taking note of the time on his HUD. "The sun will be down in an hour or so. Green Ranger out."

He then switched off his Communicator and drew his Dragon Dagger, turning in a circle and shaking his head. Three beasts flapped their wings and touched down on the roof, surrounding him. The Keese all opened their mouths, displaying their fangs, and started to creep toward him.

"Hey, I can show my teeth, too." the Green Ranger quipped, tapping the design that surrounded his visor. "But anyway, who wants to be first?"

Hayashi's muscles eagerly tensed, his fingers drumming the black hilt of his green blade. But they tightened even more when two more shapes swooped down from the sky, dipping to where the second floor was located, and the tension broke when he burst into a run when the windows shattered.


	9. Shattered

**Hi All! Two chapters left! I promise!**

The Keese on Hayashi's left taunted him, lashing out a bristly arm. The one on the left sprang at the Green Ranger, but was met with a twist kick to the head. The hero with the power of the dragon then ducked down and flipped into a no-handed cartwheel to evade his opposition. The pair left standing lined up and charged the Ranger, mouths agape and crying out. The first Keese didn't fare well at all since it was felled by a slash through its neck with the Dragon Dagger. The second one rose above the flames that remained and got out of the way of a stab from Hayashi, clutching his gilded, padded shoulders and hoisting him off of the ground.

"Hey! Let me go!" Green Ranger ordered, trying to grasp at the monster's ankles, but to no avail. He was being carried off toward the overcast sky, and the only Keese left on the roof of the hospital also took to the air, turning during its ascent to meet him.

Hayashi's pulse quickened even more during this sight, but he knew there was only one way to head off the threat. With his arms free under his Dragon Shield, he swung his right up, Dragon Dagger in hand, and cut across the Keese's left ankle. It squealed and released half of its grip. Though he dangled, the Green Ranger was able to slice the Keese's right ankle, allowing him to drop and crash into the other enemy, sliding down its rough frame and clutching its calves. The Keese feverishly flapped its wings, but the two fell past the last three floors of the hospital. Green Ranger shifted his body in midflight enough to fall into the broken window of the second floor, crumpling into the hard ground and shards of glass, making everyone in the room stop what they were doing.

"Green Ranger!"

"Are you alright?"

Hayashi tried to gingerly rise up on his burning feet, accepting the hands of the people who spoke: Wendy and the Blue Ranger. A pair of Dredwing's minions stood before them in the far left corner of the room.

"Glad you could drop in, partner," Tracey said. "These guys don't know when to quit."

Green Ranger halfheartedly scoffed at being called the Blue Ranger's partner, pointing to their schoolmate and asking, "Is she alright?"

"I'm fine," Wendy said in a low voice; she was in between both Rangers. "But you didn't answer me, Blue Ranger. You said the Red Ranger found Mike and my cousin."

"They're in good hands, Wendy," Tracey replied, fastening his Tricera Lance back together and pointing it at the Keese. As soon as Blue Ranger made it to the second floor, he immediately bumped into Wendy, who escaped the downstairs danger at Mike's urging. He saw his father whisk through the hall and into one of the rooms, only getting a few words out to his disguised son.

"Nurse!" Blue Ranger had called out as he ran to see him, hesitating a second before so he wouldn't call him "Dad." "We need to move everyone that's able downstairs and out of here!"

Oliver Matthews turned around, motioning a few visitors out the door and pointing to the Blue Ranger. They looked at him in confusion and fright, hearing the thrashing and squeals of some of Dredwing's victims from the next room.

"Triceratops and the Red Ranger are downstairs. They'll protect you!"

Those words motivated the people to move to the escape route, and others within earshot spied upon what was happening and joined them. Meanwhile, Tracey and Wendy approached Oliver, who was tending to patients. He touched his father's arm, but he brushed it off.

"I'm fine, and I'm not going anywhere," the man spoke, taking a towel and dabbing at his sweaty face. "I've got my eye on the monster's victims, too."

"But Mr. Matthews!" Wendy interrupted.

"You get out, kiddo," Oliver said to Wendy, pacing to the other side of the room and trying to raise some of the machines; the power surges had disrupted more than the lights in the building. "And you should probably get anyone else you can out."

He gazed at Tracey with a serious, concerned look and bloodshot eyes, and the Blue Ranger nodded, but not before handing him a box of the healing adhesives Zordon had created. A short time later, the Keese had broken in.

Both he and Hayashi frowned, and Wendy, sensing something wrong, turned her head and sucked in a breath to keep from crying, but looking outside the broken window changed that.

"Look out!" she screamed.

Green Ranger whirled around, and the vampire that he had cut twice was soaring down to feed, but its journey immediately ended when the Green Ranger threw his Dragon Dagger straight into its chest. The winged horror cried out and crashed onto the hospital floor, vanishing in a colorful blaze and leaving the blade behind.

While this was going on, the other two Keese advanced on Tracey, leaping back as he swung his lance across his body. One of them was brave enough to go in and latch onto the Tricera Lance, holding the Blue Ranger at bay with its surprising strength.

Hayashi ducked down to retrieve his Dragon Dagger and join the fight, but another scream from Wendy stopped him in his tracks. The fourth bloodsucker was holding onto the ledge of the second floor window with one clawed hand and had her right foot in the other, scratching it open. It started to pull itself up and her back, extending its tongue to try and lap up the fluid escaping Wendy's body. The Green Ranger dove for his Power Weapon and stomped low, stabbing the clawed hand and freeing the girl.

"Get to the corner!" Hayashi shouted, pointing to the near right corner of the room.

Wendy nodded and ran to safety, but not before hearing a slimy slap and the exhalation of "Gah!" She looked back to see the vampire's long tongue wrapped around Green Ranger's right wrist and arm, stopping him from using his blade. He tried to use his left hand to assume his Dragon Dagger, but the Keese ensnared it with its right hand. The monster flapped its wings with two massive movements and took to the air, biting into the crook of Hayashi's arm while it flew into the hospital.

Roaring, Tracey tightened his grip on his Tricera Lance and buffeted one of the remaining foes in the face with the middle of the armament.

"I'm coming, buddy!" he yelled, but the other Keese grabbed him from behind and drove its fangs into his shoulder. Sparks flew, and so did the Blue Ranger after the Keese suplexed him back-first into a nearby table. Tracey reeled, but had enough wherewithal to grapple with the putrid being as it tried to make him its next meal.

"It's…your…turn…" he gasped.

Meanwhile, Wendy kicked off her light brown flats and seized the back of an empty gurney. The young lady heaved it to the side and pushed forward, releasing the gurney and letting it crash into the Keese that had attacked Tracey, making it double over. She then ran to the one trying to feed on Hayashi and wrapped her arms around its hoary leg, pulling with all her might, a rumbling noise emerging in the distance.

"Let him go!" she shrieked, ignoring the noise, but the beast continued to bite the Green Ranger while it hovered. Sparks from the Ranger's uniform flew past her face, and she caught sight of the Keese's black, slimy tongue. Wendy also saw the shards of glass on the ground with her peripheral vision, and she ducked to pick up a long piece and swiped the edge across the tongue. The appendage went limp and the Keese instantly let Hayashi go, making him slide against the wall and to the floor. However, the vampire whirled around on instinct and snapped, scraping two curved fangs across the very top of Wendy's chest.

"No!" Green Ranger choked out as Wendy cried out and sank to the floor along with the Keese. Summoning more strength from his weary body, he ambled to his feet and pulled the assailant away from Wendy, whose wounded tongue still tried to taste the cowering teenager's sanguine foot. The superhero wrenched the Keese's head back and brought his Dragon Dagger to its throat, but a gargling noise escaped its mouth along with ink-black poison that sprayed across Hayashi's visor, making him recoil. Hayashi slashed blindly, trying to concentrate on the heat signature that his HUD showed. The blade ripped across the target's right shoulder and chest and sent it tumbling.

Blue Ranger was still tussling with the two monsters in the other corner of the room, but his eyes stretched as far open as they could and he nearly lost his breath when he saw the girl fall. His muscles burned and felt like they burst when he broke free of their grip, spun, and slung a right heel kick across one of their faces. The Keese went flying, and its partner immediately wrapped its arms around the Blue Ranger's throat in a sleeper hold.

 _"_ _Come on…Don't give up…"_ Tracey quickly thought. " _What was that move Lia taught you this week?"_

The Keese tightened its grip, widening its mouth and bringing its fangs to the top of the Ranger's smooth helmet, but a well-placed elbow to the gut shook it up. Tracey then twisted his arms around the monster's right and around its neck, bent over backwards, and dumped the enemy on its head.

With the two batty beings disabled, the Blue Ranger finally noticed the rumble in the distance growing louder and louder, and his eyes caught sight of Hayashi putting himself in front of Wendy, who could barely stand. The vampire in front of them staggered, trying to flick its elongated tongue at them. Unfortunately, the sightless creature was too distracted to notice the other Power Ranger charging at it, and it combusted once the third sharp prong of the Tricera Lance spun through its neck.

"Stay back, guys," Tracey said, twirling his lance in front of him. Hayashi and Wendy didn't object. Once their backs were to the wall, a prehistoric bellow ripped through the hospital window. The three humans looked over to see the large side of the Triceratops Dinozord roaring past them. The remaining Keese slowly rose to their feet, beaten but still hungry for blood. What they got was much different. The whirring of gears signaled the Triceratops' tail extending down several stories, positioning its double-barreled cannons in front of the window. Dredwing's spawn sensed an impending hazard, and the last thing they felt were two lasers absorbing their bodies, dissipating upon impact.

"Hohoho!" Green Ranger said, allowing himself to bump fists with Blue Ranger. "That was Morphenominal!" This made the Blue Ranger smile for the first time in a while.

"He sure came through…" Wendy added after a silent moment. She dropped to her knees and then to her side, never removing her tight grip on her chest.

"That creep didn't dig its fangs in," Hayashi continued, propping his school friend up against the wall. "It could've been worse.

Tracey's smile left him as quickly as it appeared. He saw two towels strewn about the floor and picked them up, pressing one to Wendy's wound. He handed the other to Hayashi so he could wipe the venom off of his dragon helmet. He then turned to the girl again.

"Analyze," he spoke. A scope on his HUD read the fang scrape, and a biohazard sign confirmed the bad news.

"It just got worse…the venom spray…"

Hayashi looked at Wendy, who gasped and tried to speak, but stammered. Tears escaped her eyes, and the Green Ranger kicked another nearby gurney.

"How many of those bandages do we have left?" he asked.

"D…the nurse has them," his teammate replied. No sooner than when the sentence was completed did an angry shout and the clanging of metal sounded out. The Blue Ranger sprang to his feet, ignoring all of the tiredness and pain, and he rushed to the door without a word. Another shout and feral growls entered his ears as he opened the door and went down the hall, passing a few doors and kicking open the one the noises were behind. Inside he found his father, face pale and body thrashing while two patients stretched out his arms and dug in with their teeth, streams of red and black running over his arms and dripping to the floor.

Rita Repulsa watched the whole scene unfold from her magical telescope on the Moon Palace balcony, smiling all the while.

"You can't plan for everything, Power Rangers," she said, breaking out into a cackle.


	10. Blood Flow

Rita Repulsa watched the whole scene unfold from her magical telescope on the Moon Palace balcony, smiling all the while.

"You can't plan for everything, Power Rangers," she said, breaking out into a cackle.

"Perhaps the counselor was right. These teenage twerps seem to have too much to handle," Rita said, her toothy grin still plastered on her face. She kept her right eye locked onto her Repulsascope and twirled a few strands of her ancient hair, watching the Blue Ranger pry the two infected humans off of his father.

"Oh my!" she squealed in a rare moment of giddiness. "It's good to see human flesh rip like that after so long."

Scorpina stood by her empress, giggled, and sighed. Finally, all of the planning was going to pay off for them this time.

The vampiric humans in the Feron Grove Hospital clamped their jaws down once more, except this time they bit into the length of the Blue Ranger's Tricera Lance as he forced them to the wall. Blue Ranger willed himself not to push with all his might to snap their necks more than he did not to cry while Oliver suffered. Two more patients occupied the room—an older woman huddled under her sheets and a younger man who was trying to just keep breathing while he smothered his bite wound with his blanket.

Green Ranger sped into the room, surveying the scene and allowing his body to shake at what he saw. He whipped around to look at his fellow hero fending off the vampires when he put his palms together.

"That's enough, Blue! I've got an idea!"

Tracey hesitated for a few moments, watching Dredwing's charges flail, watching fluid flow off their fangs and down the man's beard and the woman's well-manicured toes. He removed the pressure and dropped his weapon, joining Hayashi in forming his Dino Crystal. With glittering green energy engulfing him, the sixth Power Ranger shouted, "Ocean Vortex!" and threw his hands out, releasing a cone of sea water that surrounded the vampires.

"We don't have the Glacier Flash, but maybe we can trap them!" the Green Ranger surmised.

"I read you, Green…" Blue Ranger huffed, picking up his Tricera Lance. He took it and started rotating counterclockwise, conjuring a wall of desert sand that flew into the aquatic vortex. Within a minute, both of their targets found themselves immobilized in smooth, muddy blocks.

After seeing the ensnared pair couldn't break free, the Rangers caught their breath for a few seconds. Tracey looked at his bloodstained gloves and Tricera Lance, quickly dropping it and running over to check on the victims.

"Call Zordon and Red," he said, examining the man who was holding his neck. It was only a small tear in his skin, but the black poison was already smeared over it.

"I'm here!" a voice called out. The Blue and Green Rangers turned to see the Red Ranger and Chief Kanzaki enter the room, flanked by a couple of doctors. More police and medical officials could be seen checking the other rooms.

"Oh my…" Kanzaki whispered, lowering her firearm and running to Oliver, Tracey joining them. She had just sent doctors and officers to attend to secure the other floors and take care of the bitten humans, and all of the color had drained from her face when she first saw the victims Ash had to quarantine with his Dino Crystal powers; it had yet to return. "Ollie, stay with me…"

In between his hoarse exhalations, Tracey's father tried to form words, scrunching his eyes shut as the sting of the bites needled his whole body. He let out an inaudible murmur.

"What?"

"Where's Tracey?"

The Blue Ranger looked at his friends while he helped the chief and a physician clean his wounds, and they all frowned behind their helmets. He trembled, but only slightly.

"I just checked in with some of my men," Kanzaki said, her stomach uneasy. "They've made sure they're going to be fine, him and the other kids."

Hayashi and Ash broke went to check on the rest of the room. Aside from a ripped curtain and an overturned chair, everything appeared to be in order.

"Zordon, this is Green Ranger," Hayashi reported while Ash met with the elderly lady who hadn't been attacked. "We've cleared the Feron Grove hospital. Some people have been bitten, though."

"I see it now, Green Ranger," Zordon responded. "Your trap should hold the infected for a little while, but the sun will set in under an hour. You must rejoin the others and aid the Yellow Ranger."

"I am still unable to raise her on any communication frequency, Zordon!" Alpha chimed, pressing red and aquamarine buttons on one of his consoles. "Her energy reading is pinpointed in Riko, but she won't answer her Communicator!"

While Green Ranger talked to Zordon, Red Ranger finished speaking with the lady, who now pointed to the ground. Ash knelt down and saw a silver box with its contents spilled open. Several of the bandages Zordon and Alpha had crafted were strewn about the tile, all torn to shreds.

"Either she's fighting Dredwing or…"

Hayashi stopped talking at that moment when he moved to look at Ash, who froze up at his words, and he felt the same chill when he saw their only means of slowing the vampire virus in bits at his feet.

"You sure about this, Black?" Pink Ranger inquired. "We didn't fare too well the last few times we tried to stop a monster like this."

"You said cornering them would be the fastest way to stop them, Pink," Black Ranger said back over his Wrist Communicator. "They can't fly like Vires and Keese, so we won't miss them in the air or catch a backbreaker…hopefully…"

Lia ran her hand along her back, recalling her and the team's first time tangling with Dredwing. She had tried to incinerate him with the Aerial Eruption, but he easily dodged the flames, much like Squatt and Baboo's Monarch monster, and proceeded to lift her in the air and slam her spine with his knee.

 _"_ _What the heck,"_ she internally scoffed, stifling anything that would make her hesitate. With a sigh, she turned her Dinozord controls to the left and guided her Pterodactyl to circle Kau Cove hospital.

 _"_ _I just hope they don't jump off the roof."_

With his open helmet in his hand, the Black Ranger coughed and spat onto the floor. Blood from his throbbing mouth smeared the pure white tile with a _plit!_ He did this a few times and ran the length of his left glove over his mouth, staining the white and black pattern as well. With a flourish, Brock then snapped his helmet back over his head and moved through the crack of the storage room door.

Brock and Lia had managed to lock all of the vampires in an empty fourth-floor room after chasing them away from those inside Kau Cove Hospital, and Brock opened that door to let seven afflicted humans out. Six stared at him and one man leapt right at the Black Ranger, but he found himself pie-faced back to the ground, but not before tasting his prey's blood off of his glove. The vampire slowly licked his fangs and turned to look at his unwilling accomplices, who growled with hunger.

"Good, right?" Brock asked, backing up as the group gradually moved toward him. The seven spotted the blood on the floor and feverishly crowded low to sample it; a famished woman even batted her possessed seven-year-old daughter to the side to have some.

Brock tightened up his chest, fighting the urge to throw up, and extended his hand. "Come and get some more," he said, breaking into a run to the door that led to the stairs.

A collection of squeals assaulted his ears, and the vampiric people followed suit, barreling through the door and climbing up the stairs after their fast food. Brock huffed and puffed while he pounded his inflamed feet up each step. He didn't look back, but he knew each victim thirsting for him was only a few feet away from him. He blocked out everything except a vision of the top of the building: his long-time friend Misty in agony and having to fight the vampires' ghoulish master on her own, his team fraying at the edges and being split up all over the island, even the innocents that had bitten into some of the people who were just trying to get well here, the ones that throatily chanted, "Yellow. Gold. Yellow. Gold."

Fifth floor, sixth floor, seventh floor, and then one final door. Black Ranger surged and pumped his right foot through it, knocking it off its hinges, and stepped out onto the roof and into the dull light of the cloudy afternoon. He pressed his palms together, looking up into the sky.

"Ready when you are!" he boomed. His Dino Crystal in hand, he launched the lustrous gem like a football. It flew through the air at a forty-five-degree angle, and the Black Ranger faced his pursuers once more. They were all disheveled, all in tattered blue hospital gowns, and all within twenty feet of feasting. Three seconds later, they were ten feet away, and that's where they stopped when a screech rang in their ears.

Pterodactyl Dinozord was looping around the bend, smoothly and swiftly cutting a perfect circle. The Pink Ranger's radar beeped, indicating an incoming object. However, Lia stayed the course, letting Brock's Dino Crystal to smash over her cockpit's windshield. Brilliant black sparkles spread over the Zord's immense body, and the Pterodactyl opened its mouth to cry again, whipping around as Lia turned hard left.

The sick humans stood still, stunned at seeing a winged being that wasn't the monster that had turned them into his and Rita's minions. Brock took advantage of their immobility, sprinting and somersaulting over them, blocking the open doorway and assuming his Mammoth Axe. He cocked the sliding part of the handle, activating its cannon mode, and this startled the seven, who all huddled together and tried to look for a way to escape.

"Ready?" Black Ranger questioned.

"As I'll ever be!" Pink Ranger yelled. "I'm sorry, everyone, but you have to cool off for a while!"

She hit two buttons on her console and then pressed down on the fire button of her control stick. Four blue-white lightning bolts crackled forth from the tips of the Dinozord's wings and its eyes as it flew over the building, striking at the feet of the vampires. Instead of electrocuting them, the plasma stretched over them, forming a hemisphere as smooth as glass, rendering the seven victims completely motionless.

"Bullseye!" Lia said, pumping her fist in victory. "Well, there's no way I could've missed."

"Great job, Lia," Brock breathed, salty liquid pouring down his head and past his face. He came away from relief almost immediately. "But now we've got to get to Misty and Dredwing. And the last of Zordon's healing aids just got torn up by the vampires…"

Lia clenched her teeth and moved her Pterodactyl due north. She checked a small screen on her user interface; it was half past four, leaving only thirty more minutes before sunset.

"Then l hope you can keep up, Brock! See you there!" she called out. She set the mech's thrusters to full speed, and the Dinozord screeched once more, signaling the beginning of its urgent journey.

The Black Ranger watched the Pink Ranger and the Pterodactyl zip through the beach town's airspace toward the farming community of Riko, and he activated the secondary function of his Wrist Communicator, surrounding him with black light and propelling him into the sky as well.

"Just a little while longer, my Waterflower. Just a little while longer."

The Yellow Ranger tried to push herself up to a standing position, but she was locked in a perpetual state of kneeling. Sure, Dredwing's palm resting on her head kept some pressure steady, but his toxins flowed through her own internal river more than ever before. It felt like her whole body was on fire, but she couldn't even move an inch, save for her trying to spit out some of the poison. She could only see the faint light of the outside world peeking through the maw of Life's End.

"Just close your eyes for a moment," the creature said. He rotated his hand across his hostage's head, threading her frizzy red hair through his clawed fingers. "You'll get to see your mechanical friend one last time, dear."

Misty wanted to retort, but all she could do was struggle to keep her eyes open. She attempted to speak, but her jaws clamped shut for some reason, her teeth nearly busting her tongue open; when she grazed her tongue, some of her teeth felt different, sharper even.

Dredwing hissed, pushing her head down even more and straining her neck. She finally shut her eyes, and what were once flashes of action became a coherent scene.

Eleven of the last Vire's offspring soared high above the countryside, their sights set on the same town square as the first attack. But as they flew in search of sustenance, a rolling growl caught their attention. Many feet below and away from them, the Saber-Toothed Tiger Dinozord was on the prowl, arching its cannon-shaped tail over its back as it bounded across the farmland; dogs and horses raced alongside, separated by picket and wire fences.

Devoid of sight but not of instinct, three Keese broke from the flock to challenge the oncoming yellow behemoth. Two were promptly incinerated by a sweeping yellow ray, but the last one dove under the blast, looping and latching onto the Saber-Toothed Tiger's neck. The Keese repeatedly scratched and bit the Zord's metallic exterior, but the Yellow Ranger's robotic friend continued to charge toward Riko. They were soon joined by another Keese, which landed on its target's face and tried to gouge out its eyes. The Dinozord snarled, opening its jaws wide and snapping them shut three times. The first time was in futility, the second caught the evil replicant's foot and caused it to cease its assault, and the third saw the Keese flung from the Saber-Toothed Tiger's face and run through by one of the machine's silver fangs.

All the while, the remaining Keese picked up speed, urged on by the disembodied will of their master. They flew closer and closer to the center of the town, where people were running inside buildings and two cars and two pickup trucks began to approach from the far end of the one dirt road that led to the south.

Saber-Toothed Tiger had its ruby-red optical sensors on what was happening, and it compelled its limbs to move with renewed vigor despite the parasite clawing away at it. The robot bounded to the right, avoiding crashing into a thicket of trees, and it did the only thing it could do, leaping and rolling headfirst over a tall, grassy hill. The DInozord tumbled, disorienting the Keese, and when they reached the bottom, the vampire spun off of its prey and wheeled through the grass, stopping several yards away. The Keese writhed in pain, but it didn't have a chance to rise, vaporized by another laser beam from the Saber-Toothed Tiger's cannon.

Standing alone, Saber-Toothed Tiger looked to the east, and its sensors located Misty's energy signature three miles away. The prehistoric powerhouse stood still for a moment, desperately wanting to rescue its friend, but screams from the west prompted it to accomplish the prime directive the Yellow Ranger had given it.

In town, the seven Keese that hadn't been cut down were ready to land, but this time, citizens of the rural area were waiting for them with stakes at the ready and shotguns primed. The monsters fanned out and mainly skirted the gunfire, their agility ensuring the most damaged they received were minute tears in their skin. One woman launched a wooden spear at one of the Keese, but the enemy gripped it and snapped the weapon in two as it divebombed into her and another person. That's when the others descended.

Five of the Keese touched down to start their attack, but an unlucky one was shot down by one of the townsfolk, thrown onto its back thanks to a round of shotgun shells. The hairy beast strained to sit up, but was subsequently impaled by Willy, the enraged man from the Riko church. His stake now stuck in the earth, Willy pried it from the ground only to find himself thrown into the dirt by one of the vampires. His wife tried to rip the Keese off of him, but the Keese squealed, reared back, and chomped on her fingers. She shrieked and fell down herself, prompting the monster to abandon Willy and try to feed on her.

"You dirty…" the burly fellow began, seizing the bloodthirsty being by the shoulders. The Keese retaliated by sliding its head up to his neck, chewing through the flesh, and gifting the man with its venom

The others defending Riko weren't faring much better. The closed-quarters situation rendered gunfire useless unless the people wanted to hurt their own; a man and a woman who drew their pistols were quickly kicked and clawed down by Dredwing's minions, and the others either bit or knocked away people who tried to help them.

Once more, the owner of the small shop in the square hid behind his counter, but this time, after much shivering and sweating, he bolted out of his business and straight toward a wiry farm girl tussling with one of the Keese. Just as the hideous creature was about to tear the teenager's neck open, it recoiled when the shop owner swung a string of garlic cloves near its nose and mouth, allowing the girl to pummel its nose with her boot.

"Go on! Get in and lock the door!" he yelled, moving the girl behind him. The young lady, with only a tear in her overalls and a bruise on her cheek, nodded and took off. The shop owner rose to gather himself, but was thrown to the dirt by one of the flying freaks. The fangs pierced the back of his neck in three seconds flat.

Suddenly, a menacing roar overwhelmed the sounds of the melee. The six Keese abandoned their prey, sensing the Saber-Toothed Tiger Dinozord racing into the town square, towering many stories over the area. The mechanized protector lowered itself onto its belly, snapping at the evildoers and forcing them to retreat under the wooden overhangs of the buildings. Saber-Toothed Tiger primed its cannon, aiming it at two of the Keese that were paired off. The vampires swiped in midair, and one of the six on the other side of the plaza punched into the store window, eliciting fearful cries from those inside. The remaining three just bobbed their heads forward, displaying the meals that dripped from their teeth.

All of them were taunting Misty's Dinozord, and even though it had its weapon at the ready, there was nothing it could do without adding innocent casualties to the bloodbath.

As three Keese on the east side started breaking into choice establishments, an incoming black light caused them to halt their progress. In two seconds, one found itself gored by a sharp, oblong blade, and within six, the other two joined their brethren in a heap of violet embers after being cleaved through their chests.

The batlike organisms on the west side stopped their rampage as well, startled by the screeches of their partners. They and the humans that weren't incapacitated looked to see that Black Ranger had joined the Saber-Toothed Tiger, silently swinging his Mammoth Axe with an offensive flourish. The Keese responded by joining together to accept his challenge, advancing to the middle of the road.

"Look!" one of the men shouted, his raised voice ringing out despite the pain he felt in his neck. The screech of the Pterodactyl Dinozord confirmed his greatest hope and the vampires' worst nightmare. The Keese stood as if they'd been frozen by Brock's Glacier Flash, but they could smell the Pink Ranger as she stood atop the head of her soaring Zord. She tilted her Ptera Bow horizontally, three sharp arrows straining the string to its breaking point; the projectiles shone with Dino Crystal energy, each one flaming at the tip. Lia squinted her eyes, ignoring the targets on her HUD and going on instinct. The bowstring snapped forward, the arrows raced downward, and the skittish parasites were immolated and struck through the heart, leaving no trace of their vile existence.

Most of the nearby people of Riko, wounded, frightened, or otherwise, all cheered at the sight of the vanquished Keese. Pink Ranger, on the other hand, reentered her Dinozord and veered to the east.

"I'm off to check out the hospital!" she told the Black Ranger. "The ambulances will be on the way!"

"Roger that!" Brock replied, running out to tend to the victims. "I'm going to call Blue Ranger to help." The Black Ranger first helped up those who were able to stand, and they in turn started to assist him. Meanwhile, the Saber-Toothed Tiger turned to face the way out of town; nothing would get past it.

"Shootin' was gonna do no good once they got close," a farm boy said, coughing into his blue jean jacket. "These suckers were just too fast…"

"Willy? David?" Willy's wife uttered, holding her bleeding hand close to her chest while looking at her husband and the nearby shop owner. Her husband and the owner spasmed and grunted in pain while they held their necks. Another man could be seen crying and cradling his niece, who was also in tears thanks to the bite she suffered in her shoulder.

Brock helped the woman up and began to clean the black goop from her injury, but no amount of disinfectant would clear all of the blood and muck and pain he saw and heard from his memory. Brock fought his rising stomach.

 _"_ _I won't let this get to me. Not like last time…"_ he told himself, remembering when injuries to the innocent caused him to bow in trepidation to Rita's forces. But his thought was cut off when his Communicator beeped.

"This is Black Ranger. What's up?"

"Black! It's Yellow!"

Brock gasped at hearing Misty's voice; he hadn't spoken to her since earlier in the morning.

"Yellow?! Where are you?!" he shouted. "Are you okay?!"

"I've got Dredwing where I want him!" she said. Yellow Ranger's voice was raspy, and a cough came from the other end of the communication. "We're in Life's End!"

"I…I don't know what to do…" he answered, looking at the scene around him. "I have people that need me."

"I've got Red and Green coming over!" Misty assured. "This is finished!"

Two columns of light landed at the mouth of Life's End, and the Red and Green Rangers materialized and sprinted right into the cave, taking in their surroundings.

"Her helmet and Tiger Daggers…" Hayashi whispered, a knot forming in his gut. "I hope she's not…"

"I know Misty, Hayashi," Ash said in between pants. "She'll fight no matter what. Till…till the end…"

The two Power Rangers didn't have to pound ground for long. A bright yellow shape filled their sight a few yards into the dank cavern, their HUDs and senses confirming it was Misty.

"Misty!" Red Ranger called out, stopping in his tracks. He then squared off in a front stance, arms in a defensive position. Green Ranger did the same, and he spoke next.

"Come on out, Dredwing. We know you're there."

A chuckle cut through the darkness, and sure enough, the Vire stepped out beside the Yellow Ranger, his hand on her shoulder.

"Get your hand off of her, _now._ " Red Ranger growled.

"That's no way to talk in front of your executioner, boy," Dredwing calmly said, not removing his hand from the heroine; her back was turned to her team.

"You've got three seconds," the Green Ranger demanded, drawing his Dragon Dagger. "That's all. I'm not promising you a last meal."

Dredwing laughed again, stepping aside and taking his hand off of Misty.

"I've had mine, Hayashi," he explained, licking his large bottom fang. "But my lovely lady would like her first."

The two male Rangers' eyes opened wide like their mouths, and their tense muscles loosened in shock as Misty turned around. Beneath her shaggy hair and sunken eyes was a giddy smile, overlapped by two razor-sharp, nearly shiny fangs.


	11. Piercing the Darkness

Misty started stepping toward her friends and opened her mouth to lick her new fangs, allowing the pungent odor of vampirism to pervade the other Power Rangers' airspace. That mattered little to the Red and Green Rangers, who c-stepped back.

"No way… You're not getting away with this!" Hayashi barked, pointing his Dragon Dagger at Dredwing, who stood and laughed. The creature raised his arms up to shoulder level, breathing deeply.

Ash scanned the Yellow Ranger with his HUD, which displayed the following message:

TOXIN LEVEL: CRITICAL

Sweat cascaded down his face as he looked at his silent, transformed companion, images of all of the day's events flooding back to him.

"Critical doesn't mean hopeless…" he said to himself. With those words, he pushed off in a forward c-step, attempting to grab Misty by the shoulders, but the possessed Ranger hissed and grappled with him.

"For you it does, Ashy boy!" she shot back, kneeing Red Ranger in the stomach and backhanding him across his visor.

"Misty, fight! This isn't you!" Ash roared back, collecting himself and going in again. "You're stronger than this poison!"

The Yellow Ranger smirked in return, rebuffing the Red Ranger's next advance by curling her left arm under both of his. She then reared back and plunged her fangs into his sternum. Sparks flew yet again from Ash's suit, and dark venom rolled over the red and white diamonds on his uniform.

"Listen to him, Misty!" Hayashi interjected, running over and hooking one of his arms under hers for a half nelson. "I beat Rita's influence, and you can sure beat this weirdo's!"

"I know what I'm doing," Yellow Ranger said. She used her free hand to launch a palm heel strike into Ash's face, sending him to the arid cavern floor, and then she struck the Green Ranger with a twist kick and a duo of swipes, knocking him to his knees. "Who are _you_ to lecture me about fortitude, you puppet?"

Dredwing, who was standing quietly with his arms raised in reverence, felt Hayashi near him, but not in nearly enough pain for him to be satisfied.

"You won't be causing the empress any more trouble," he admonished, seizing his target by the top of the helmet with his palm.

Hayashi's body stung from the strikes Misty had levied upon him, just the tip of the iceberg for the day. But as Dredwing lifted him up, he channeled all of his strength into one forward thrust with his Power Weapon. He soon found himself dropped to his feet on the ground of Life End, his dagger coated in black blood.

"And you try to tell the red one how to fight," Dredwing said, flexing the fingers of the right hand that was run through thanks to his demonic agility.

Green Ranger felt his whole being grow white hot, shouting, "You have no idea what I can do!" He pulled his Dragon Dagger from Dredwing's palm and threw three hard punches, all of which were deftly blocked with the left hand. He then slashed at the Vire, who leapt into the air and touched down behind him. Hayashi prepared for this, drawing his right leg up and firing a series of side thrust kicks that had Dredwing back up, and followed up with a midair roll and a concealed stab with his blade, but the vampire dodged everything that was thrown at him.

"And you have no idea how amateurish you are," he chastised, wheeling behind the Green Ranger and hooking his left claws under his golden chest shield, chomping into his neck twice. "Me and my kind have fought swordsmen like you for centuries, and they were tougher and more versatile than you."

"Green!" Ash yelled, receiving a spinning hook kick from Misty as he saw his teammate crumple to the ground. He was using his codename since he had activated his Wrist Communicator during the fight. He continued to talk while the Yellow Ranger pulled him to the side of the cave. "Black, Pink, Blue! We need some serious help! Green is down!"

"I'm with her at Riko Hospital now!" Black Ranger reported as he finished freezing yet another cursed human with his crystal powers. "There's just too many people infected here. But we've got to do it. Come on!"

"It's okay. Run now…" Pink Ranger urged, ushering some nurses out of the room they were all in. She then trotted over to Doctor April Collings, who was bent over the railing of one of the hospital beds, blood pouring past the towel she used to compress the bite on the side of her neck; the woman who had bitten her, the one Misty had rescued along with her family, stood encased in ice next to her husband.

"You can do it, girl!" she shouted into her own Communicator. "Think of the people you saved!" Somehow, Collings found the strength to grip Lia's hand and nod in agreement.

Ash took a few more steps back and looked behind him. He could see the glow of sunlight finally peeking through the clouds Dredwing had conjured.

"Don't let Dredwing win, Yellow! I wish I could, Red, but Zordon told me to stay here with the people here in the city," Blue Ranger said. "I'm helping separate everyone who's been bitten into one area."

Tracey took a look at his father, who was next to Mike and Wendy in the quarantined area. Laid up on a gurney, Oliver took deep breaths with his mouth open. Blue Ranger took his finger and lifted his dad's upper lip, seeing that his teeth were growing sharper.

"They're transforming, Red," he said in a shaky voice.

The Red Ranger gritted his teeth, reaching his right hand out and assuming his Tyranno Sword from the Morphing Grid.

"Then I've got to get on point here with this freak!" he called out, but that made Misty leap onto him, tussling over the sword.

"That won't be necessary," she said in a sickeningly sweet voice. "Dredwing's stepping out into the sun, so all us vampires will be all that's left of your world, and that won't change!"

Ash and Hayashi gasped, the latter just regaining a vertical base and his weapon, tottering after Dredwing.

"All that's left?" Green Ranger repeated. "That means…"

"You mean there's gonna be no way to reverse the spell if he burns in the sunlight?!" Red Ranger blurted, whirling around as he and Yellow Ranger struggled with the blade.

"That's my purpose," Dredwing explained as he walked closer to the end of the cave; he was only fifty yards away while the quarreling Rangers were only forty-five away. "The yellow one is mine, and the gold will soon wash over me."

 _"_ _It's getting warmer,"_ the ancient one thought. _"If only I could feel this way forever."_

Ash hitched his breath, pulling back for his Tyranno Sword, but Misty had gotten the better of him and gained possession of it. As the Red Ranger staggered back, he tilted his head back to look and rotated his hips to deliver a high roundhouse kick to the side of Dredwing's oblong cranium. The monster reeled back and to the rough wall of Life's End, though still alert enough to fend off any attack, and this gave Hayashi an opportunity to roll past the monster and grab hold of Misty.

"Listen! Everyone is going to be under Rita's control if we don't stop him!" he pleaded, shaking the wriggling Ranger. "Come on," he said softly. "Come back."

Misty let out a throaty cackle and then spun around to cut across the Green Ranger's stomach with the Tyranno Sword. Next, she turned back toward the Red Ranger as she talked.

"Nice try, but smooth talk and moves don't do the trick," she said in a singsong tone, twirling a strand of her frizzy mane.

The Red Ranger continued to backpedal toward the Life's End entrance. Out of some innate feeling, he quickly lifted his helmet off of his head, revealing his sweaty, haggard face.

"Please, Misty," he said so quietly that nearly nobody else would be able to hear him. He looked her right in her yellowed eyes, ones that used to sparkle like pools. "This isn't you. You're the one keeping me from giving up now. This is not my…the Misty I know." He gulped, shook his head, perspiration flying from his face and short, matted hair, and said, "Please."

All the while, Misty stared right into Ash's bright brown eyes, taking in every word he said. A moment went by with only her and Dredwing's footsteps being the only noise in the room. She opened her mouth and sighed.

"Oh, Ash…" she breathed. She tossed the Tyranno Sword aside and raced to him, opening her arms wide. The Red Ranger mimicked the gesture, only to bring them to his face when she socked him straight in the nose and sent him flying.

Giggling, the Yellow Ranger grabbed a handful of Ash's black hair and heaved him along the cavern's base.

"You don't mind if I have my dinner out in the sunlight, do you, my master?" she asked of Dredwing, who had countered one more attack from Green Ranger by throwing him back-first into a stalactite hanging overhead, making it crumble and almost knocking him out.

"Just for a moment, my sweet," the vampire confirmed, taking to the air with his wings and gliding to the two. "We don't want you completely burning up."

Yellow Ranger cast a sweet look at her tormentor and, with him, hoisted Ash up and drug him to the mouth of the cave and into the open air of the Riko fields. The overcast sky had now parted, and gleaming streams of sunlight struck the verdant plains, as well as those walking outside. Inside, Green Ranger couldn't find his footing, falling to his face every time he tried to rise up.

"Misty…Ash…" he managed to say. Those were the words on Brock, Lia, and Tracey's lips as well, along with Hayashi's name, as the chaos unfolded around them. Bestial growls could be heard all around them wherever they were, meaning the victims were now becoming vassals of Dredwing.

As the strands of solar radiation touched Dredwing's bristly frame, the warmth intensified. What was once comfortable became nagging with each passing second.

 _"_ _In the sun is where I belong,"_ he thought as sanguine spots broke open on his body. _"No more cold of darkness. Only the release of light."_

Misty felt the stinging sensations as well while she dropped Ash on his back, right near her busted helmet and Tiger Daggers. The sun's rays and the toxic substance rushing through her veins were almost too much to bear.

"I am happy to carry on the mission, Dredwing," she said, lifting one of her Power Weapons while the monster stroked her hair. "And how funny is it that this dagger will punctuate things!"

Dredwing laughed one last time, feeling the fear that pervaded Ash as he lay with the silver tip of the dagger at his jugular. Misty looked right into his eyes, smiling while she reared the Tiger Dagger back with her left arm. In the next instant, he tossed the blade into her right hand and swung her arm up forty-five degrees, plunging it into Dredwing's chest cavity.

The laugh that escaped Dredwing's throat immediately evolved into a short, raspy gurgle, his jaws going slack and his limbs going limp. Second by second, his body dissolved into dust, which was then consumed by a plume of purple fire, leaving nothing left of his horrible visage.

At the Command Center, Alpha stepped back in surprise before letting out a celebratory series of beeps.

"Misty did it, Zordon! Dredwing is no more!" he squealed, the lights bouncing across his visor as bright as any other in the sacred chamber.

Zordon allowed a small smile to cross his lips. "I feel it, Alpha," he acknowledged. "My sensors indicate that the victims we are holding are now returning to normal. Blue Ranger, I am teleporting them to the Feron Grove Hospital, now."

"Sounds great, Zordon!" Tracey exclaimed in response to the all-channel message that came in on his Communicator. He turned to Chief Kanzaki, who was helping him guard the room, both of them grinning from ear to ear. Relief washed over them when they saw everyone, including Tracey's father, Mike, and Wendy, stirring back to true consciousness even though they still winced from the pain of the bites.

"Come on, Wendy. I'll take you to see Paula," Kanzaki said, lifting up off of her bed. The girl was too weary to smile much, but Mike did that for her while they walked off.

Tracey looked at Oliver and Mike and gave a thumbs-up, which Mike returned, but Oliver groaned at the pangs of the teeth marks left in his arms and the blood loss. Blue Ranger had no words; he was just so thankful that he didn't have to attack his friends or family.

Back over in Riko, the Black and Pink Rangers were allowing medical staff and other personnel back into the medical facility; they could now start fully concentrating on administering care to those who were assaulted in the town square. The Rangers ventured back into the room where they were previously trying to keep things from getting worse. Doctors were guiding the formerly vampiric husband and wife, now free from the ice, to get checked out.

"Are these wounds going to disappear, though?" Black Ranger questioned Pink Ranger. "Adder's bites vanished within minutes."

Lia shrugged and shook her head at Brock, her relief still clouded with questions.

"He was Rita's creation," she replied, going next to Doctor Collings, whose torn neck flesh was being sterilized and bandaged by one of the physicians. "Her spells seem more temporary when used by her and her monsters. Dredwing's thousands of years old and native to this island. From what I got to read, I have no idea. I think it's going to take some time…"

Finally, the young doctor was patched up and was told to rest, but she waved her colleague off and threw her stethoscope back around her neck.

"Are you sure you're okay to keep going?" Brock asked.

April Collings repressed a laugh, straightening her clothes and flinching at the pain she still felt.

"You guys did an amazing job as always," she congratulated, putting a hand on each of their shoulders and winking. "It's just a flesh wound. And besides, if you guys can keep ticking after all you've been through today, I think I won't do too bad."

She flashed a last grin at the two heroes, and then left the room, turning back to the task of healing her patients.

Just like everyone else that was infected by Dredwing and his charges, Misty felt the effects of the reversal of the curse. Her face gradually regained some of its color, and her once-pale yellow eyes turned their familiar aquamarine, releasing silent streams of relieved and pained tears.

Ash smiled, taking Misty's hand and pulling himself back to his feet. His gaze never left hers.

"Way to go, Mist," he said, saying a shortened form of her name that he only used. "I knew you could do it. I knew you could."

Misty did nothing to stop the waterfall coming from her eyes. "Hey, he was playing mind games with me the whole time. I guess he didn't expect to take his own medicine."

"Hey!" Hayashi shouted. He came running over to them, both of their helmets, the Tyranno Sword, and Misty's other Tiger Dagger in his hand and under his arms. "Talk about cutting it close! That was awesome, Misty!"

The Yellow Ranger turned to look at the Green Ranger and lightly shoved him at the sound of his joke, responding, "Well, you guys wouldn't stop telling me what to do! I guess Ash is finally following your lead."

Hayashi shrugged and chuckled. "Well, he focused on helping you break free while I got smacked around. He had his eye on the ball better than me this time."

He slapped five with Ash and bumped fists as well. Looking down, he noticed that the Red and Yellow Rangers' right hands were still clasped. He looked up, his eyebrows raised in surprise, but then he started grinning, letting out a hearty laugh.

"What is it, man?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, what's so funny?" Misty added. The two looked downward and gasped looking at their hands, instantly releasing them.

"Ah, I'm just going to keep my mouth shut and stay out of this one," he said, laughter rolling of his last word while he walked past them and activated his Wrist Communicator to report to Zordon.

Ash and Misty looked at each other, their cheeks glowing the same shade of red that Ash's Ranger uniform was. They stayed quiet for a few seconds before someone spoke.

"So…punching me a lot and threatening to eat me stops a vampire's curse, huh?" Red Ranger posed, running a hand over a stray lock of his hair. "Powerful stuff."

"If I knew that was so powerful, I would've said it years ago!" Yellow retorted. "Your win-loss record with the Pokémon League would have a _few_ more Ws."

Ash and Misty playfully pushed each other. They stood apart from each other only two seconds longer before they collided in a tight embrace. Ash let out a deep breath and put his hand on Misty's back, rubbing up and down before putting his palm on the back of her head. Misty dipped her head next to his, placing her moist eyes on his shoulder. A few more droplets rolled down both of their faces when they thought of everything that happened over the past week, and as the sun continued to dip into the rural horizon, the two clutched each other tighter and tighter.

 **Author Notes**

 **1\. Yes, I totally ripped off that unmasking scene from** ** _Turbo: A Power Rangers movie._** **I've no shame about it** **J**

 **2\. This is going to be the last new episode for a while. I've got some business to take care of, especially with editing updates to episodes 2-9 (They are DEFINITELY coming in.). But in the meantime, the Green Ranger card will be uploaded onto DeviantArt AND here are TWO episode previews.**

 **Next Time on** ** _Power Rangers_**

 **In the midst of the recovery efforts after Dredwing's plague, Rita Repulsa and her court go on the hunt for Titanus, the fabled seventh Dinozord. The Power Rangers are naturally on the case, looking to protect the guardian beast from evil forces. But what happens when the journey takes our heroes to heights they've never ascended to before? Find out next time on** ** _Mighty Morphin Power Rangers!_**

 **AND**

 **The Rangers get some time to rest, but they are no less close to fighting as they take a trip into the wild world of professional wrestling. But while they're enjoying the show, a new menace—Barbelle, the strongest alieness in the galaxy—introduces herself to Rita as the one that can lead a new army and the charge to defeat our heroes. Will our champions prevail once more, or will they be down for a three-count? Find out next time on the** ** _Mighty Morphin Power Rangers!_**


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